Can Blacks Achieve Business Success in China?

The Martins also run a catering business. Clients include the American embassy and multinational companies. “We love what we’re doing,” said Antoinette. “We have full control over the product we’re selling and our ideas are totally coming from us. We have a great team of people working for us, and we have a really nice lifestyle.”

The Chinese economy is rapidly developing in urban cities.  It has grown seven times as fast as the U.S. economy over the past decade (316 percent vs. 43 percent). Still, businesses face roadblocks, and for foreigners, they can prove especially daunting.

“China has its own way of doing things,” said Antoinette. “You have to try to work within the system. There’s always a new law for something, and you have to adjust.” It can be difficult for foreigners to obtain business licenses in China, which is why the Martins formed a partnership with a Chinese local.

There have been other adjustments the Martins had to make in order to adapt to Chinese culture, such as deal with a high employee-turnover rate during the Chinese New Year and getting around the language barrier.

“We speak enough Mandarin to get around,” said Antoinette. “But if we have to do negotiations, I need a translator. And I wouldn’t go to the doctor or do anything on a higher level without an interpreter. I’m fine with the back-and-forth translation. That’s part of what we signed up for. If I can’t find someone to translate, then we’re in trouble,” she said.

Tony Perkins, a broadcast journalist from Indiana, is another member of Beijing’s black community. A radio and TV reporter since 1980, Perkins landed a teaching job at Indiana University, then in 2007, he learned about an opportunity in China.  Today, he is a sports broadcaster for China Central Television (CCTV), China’s international network. His half-hour show, “Sports Scene,” airs twice daily in English in 57 countries and is carried in the U.S. on DirecTV and the Dish Network.

“For the most part, our audience is English-speaking people anywhere in the world, whether they’re business people in hotel rooms or somebody who is living and teaching in a foreign country and misses home, ” said Perkins.

Perkins’ show is like ESPN, Chinese-style.  “We do scores and highlights of events of international interest,” he said. “We have everything that you would find on a typical American sports channel [including] feature stories on Chinese athletes.”