Outbound China helps China's Joymain

Shanghai med device company wants to know Mass.
Boston Business Journal - April 14, 2006
by Mark Hollmer

Wang Youshan contacted the Boston Business Journal recently, wanting to introduce himself. And our life sciences readers may want to pay particular attention.

Wang is chairman and president of the Joy Main Science and Technology Group Corp., also known as Joy Main -- www.joymain.com on the Web -- a medical device company headquartered in Shanghai with more than 18,000 employees.

Joy Main makes and sells everything from blood pressure and body fat monitors to weight loss products, and clothing and bedding products that feature something known as "Far Infrared" properties that are said to help treat pain and insomnia. The 6-year-old company is already a giant, spread out through 30 provinces in China with $280 million in revenue reported in 2005. Joy Main reaches legions of Chinese consumers through 3,600 stores and franchise businesses and 7,000 sales counters at local department stores, and some of its products are already sold internationally in Australia Austria, Japan and the United States.

And now Joy Main wants to grow here, by beefing up its U.S. presence and making deals with local medical device companies.

Speaking through an interpreter, Wang extended an invitation to MassMedic, for example, the state's medical device industry group. He wants any interested members to come visit the company and its facilities.

He hopes to obtain new American biotechnology and medical device products that Joy Main's extensive distribution network can sell. He wants to form partnerships with American sales people who can promote Joy Main's products here. Wang also looks to form partnerships with biotech and medical device companies who could help develop, market and sell Joy Main's research and development platform. And Wang is interested in finding American economic specialists who can help him boost sales even more in China.

Wang's interest in Massachusetts aside, his story has a big twist: Wang found his Massachusetts audience, via the Boston Business Journal, pretty much by chance.

Last week he represented one of about 125 Chinese companies that registered for a New York state-sponsored conference last week held to help Chinese companies establish themselves domestically. He became aware of us because of Joe Blumenfeld and Janet Carmosky, the two principles of Massachusetts-based Outbound China, a new consultancy formed recently to help Chinese companies deal with logistics and public relations issues as they establish themselves here (we wrote about it last week). Outbound China attended the conference. The pair met Wang. Hoping to build a relationship with him, they said they could help Wang reach the Massachusetts audience in which he expressed interest. Carmosky herself acted as a translator.

Wang said that he hasn't approached or been approached by any Massachusetts state officials yet. He remains interested, however, because of the state's rich industrial and technology base and its strengths in biotechnology and biomedical research and development.

It's not that Massachusetts isn't making the effort to develop contacts in China. The Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment, for example, employs a consultant in Shanghai and is working to both help Chinese companies expand here and firms here make similar contacts overseas. This week the consultant was to join a MassMedic delegation at a medical device trade show in Beijing to help drum up business and contacts.

Blumenfeld, however, says Massachusetts state and industry officials could do more to reach out to Chinese companies itching to expand into the United States.

"We need to welcome these companies," he said. "Their successes will create jobs."

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2006/04/17/newscolumn3.html