Is tung oil the unsung hero of small counties like Sanjiang? Well, "hero" is still up for debate, but it is most certainly unsung. As I flipped through the county's investment guide, there is not one mention of tung oil. And I really do not understand why.
Of course, I am thinking a bit more globally than the average small town resident. The guide lists products like beef, but I would not touch that one with a ten foot pole for foreign markets, because (no offense) the beef back home in the Great Plains of the United States way out ranks anything I have had in China. Now, before we chase a rabbit trail with the beef, the point is that the investment guide is very China-focused, and marketable resources like tung oil did not even make it in there with cow meat!
Hear me though, I do not blame small counties for being near sighted. They know that the majority of their business, if not all in most circumstances, will come from regional buyers who will then take care of all that "global business stuff."
Still, if the biggest producer of tung oil in Guangxi Province is nearby, it seems to make sense that an investment guide aimed at Chinese businesses would have some information about the tung oil resources available here. Because local officials cannot see the potential sales their would-be buyers could make from producing their tung oil, they fail to see the potential of their own resources which lie in the local tung oil industry.
They talk about silly things like beef because they know Chinese people in the region will buy and eat their beef. It is easy to see. Bamboo is another example: they have a healthy market in China, and since they understand only their regional market, bamboo makes it in the investment guide.
I guess the core problem is how to develop a product when the people who produce it cannot see its usefulness to end buyers around the world. Well, I say that, but really I would guess that is not a problem that would stop you from doing business with them. Even if they do not understand the greater scheme of things and the desire the world market has for their tung nuts, if you are going to pay them, they will most certainly sell.
Money in hand is easy to understand.
Of all the junk comments I have received for the site, I am dumbfounded as to how many have been attempts on this particular entry. I somehow doubt it has anything to do with the keywords in the entry and probably more that one of the junk comment makers has propogated the address to others.
Regardless, I find it almost humorous since Movable Type is automatically marking them as junk comments. One, they are not even showing up on this page, even before I have a chance to delete them. Two, even if they did show up, comments stuffed with links are not going to make it anyway, because the links are not active inside comments.
Anyway, thanks to Movable Type. I just had to write some comment here since I have seen dozens try attempted posts here.
Posted by: Cooper Strange | 21 Dec 2006 at 11:38
Hi! I wish more people felt this way and took the time to express themselves.
Posted by: Dirk | 28 Mar 2007 at 10:32