As Chinese companies set up shop in London, one of their biggest challenges is being able to obtain useful local information, says Jeff Cao, head of Asia Pacific at London & Partners.

It is not that Chinese executives and their staff are not smart or hardworking, but that they have little experience in localization, he says.

London is the world's leading global financial center, and one of the leading high-tech and educational cities, he says.

"There is a lot of valuable information in London every day, but many Chinese companies do not know how to get access to it. If they get more useful information about investment, trade or high technology, they might grab more business opportunities or transform scientific and technical results into productivity."

Most Asian companies that have attempted to go global have faced similar challenges, Cao says.

He suggests that Chinese companies be more open-minded, communicate a lot with local companies, or use agencies to obtain and share information.

(China Daily European Weekly 05/16/2014 page19)