March 20, 2025 • 25 mins
As a Foreigner, how is living and working in China? Veronika Viegas, a Brazilian and Intenational Trade Specialista at VEDU Foreign Trade in Shenzen, China shares her view and advice. Also shared how Chinese use social media differently than westerners. http:www.vedutrade.com.cn https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronikazv
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Talk to Brazil with Tom Riok, the business
connector to business in Brazil. Talk to Brazil podcast talks
with business experts throughout the world. I'm Tom Reark, connecting
people from my studio in Brazil. Joining us today from Shensen, China.
Veronica Viegas a Brazilian and an international trade specialist at
(00:24):
VDO Foreign Trade in Shensen, China. So Veronica and Veronica
and I met on a Chinese social media platform, red
Note or red Book as they call it, where I
followed her on many posts about lifestyle in China so Veronica.
First of all, as a foreigner, how is it living
and working in China?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hi, Tom, thanks for the invite. I'm very happy to
be here. So life in China is pretty different. It's crazy. Actually,
I never thought I would be living in China. First
of all, that was never a country that I thought
I would be coming to. But since I met my
(01:08):
boyfriend six years ago in the United States and he's Chinese,
he decided to come here to China after the pandemic
and invited me to come. He was like, maybe maybe
you should try to come to China. It might be
a good experience. For you. And also if it doesn't work,
you can all go back, like I can always go
back because or something, So you.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Go back to Brazil or go back somewhere right somewhere.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
And I'm actually a very adventurous person, so I was
up the task. And since living here, I've been living
here for two and a half years now and I'm
used to it in a general sense, but I noticed
a lot of differences in lifestyles that I was not used,
(02:01):
but not in a bad way, in a good way actually,
because the advancements in China is just something that actually
amazed me. And I always talk about it, how advanced
it is in technological way and how life, everyday life
became easier, just easier in the country, easier for people
(02:26):
who are here. Yes, they facilitate a lot. For example,
I actually never seen a Chinese bill dollar bill. I
don't know how it is the Chinese money, because everything
is on the phone. You have to pay everything by
the phone, and if you don't have your phone, you
(02:46):
can all go out pretty much. That you just make
sure that you always have battery on your phone. That
is that was a cultural shock for me, But I
actually think it's it's good in a sense of you
have everything you need at the tipper, have your fingers
because you can order, you can order anything online and
(03:08):
it's going to be at your house in a couple
of minutes. That is something that I was not used to.
And it's like from everything I mean, medicines, groceries and
things for past house of anything.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, really you were comparing to life in the United States,
where you still walk wrong with the money in your pocket.
And you know that's true.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
That is true in Brazil. I don't think it is
as a best, well.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
But it's almost like today here in Brazil. I haven't
I don't walk around with money. We don't use money anymore, yes,
for a long time. So it's all on the phone.
It's all what they call picks here. It's all.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
If you want to buy an orange from a street vendor,
it's it's an electronic transfer.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
There's no money.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
That is in the United States, it's not that way.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes, it's a bit different on that, but well in
China it's just another another level. Oh yes. That One
thing that amazed me in China is that when you
go to hotels here sometimes they're gonna have robots in
the hotels to bring you stuff to your room instead
(04:18):
of actual people. That is something I was not used to.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That's not something from a movie. That's that's real, that happens.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
No, that is real. That is real. Usually usually the
majority of the hotels nowadays, Like you ask for an
extra pillow, or you order food in your room, and
then the front desk is gonna send the robots to
knock on your door and you just get it from it,
and it even talks to you. It says here it
is bah bah. You say thank you, and it goes away.
(04:48):
It's unbelievable actually, and you.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Keep ordering just to see the robot come right.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Becomes your best friend. Now, those this actually.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Travel with children that would probably order stuff day and
night just to see the robots.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yes, these are actually very fun things that happen in
China that sometimes it's just like some AI thing or
like a robot that just goes around. They are trying
to introduce robot policemen in places now, which I've seen
in a couple of places. It's just like a robot
(05:26):
with blue lights like looking around. But I don't know
if it actually something happens. I don't know how much
the robot can do, honestly, but.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Just being out on the street and walking around, how
do you feel, Yeah, does it feel like you're on
Star Wars or not?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
A little bit? It feels actually living here feels like
you're in a bubble a little bit. You feel like
you're in a different place because everything is different. The
vibe is different, the culture is different. But it is
actually very safe, very clean, and very advanced. I have
(06:05):
no complaints of living changing. Actually it's a lot of
international people that live here, and the quality of life
is good here. It's actually very good. We have access
to a lot of different foods, like international cuisines, not
just Chinese but actually international cuisines, and shopping malls. Other
(06:30):
cities like Shanghai and Beijing is the same thing. So
the main cities in China is actually very good to
live in.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
When you get into the interior of the country, how
is that? What changes?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
What changes is that people are not as used to
seeing a foreign person, so they're gonna maybe look at
you a little bit weird, or they're gonna pay attention
to you more. And it's not as clean as the
(07:03):
main cities, the big cities, and it's more populated. There's
actually a lot of people that live in the countryside today,
and the quality of life of those people is not
as I would say clean and and as is structured
(07:23):
as in the city. Like you're going to see them
in houses, but the houses sometimes don't have like stuff
and all. But that's some other places in the world
is like that too.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Have they have a house? From what I've seen, everybody
lives in a house, right.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Actually, that is one that is one thing that I
noticed and I ask people around here. I don't see
homeless people in China actually, and the government has a
place that they have for the people their lower income
to live. But one thing that happens in China, the
(07:57):
majority of people are not homeless because they live in
the countryside and those places are not even regulated, so
they usually just stay there. They don't lose their homes
and they stay there for the rest of their lives
and even their grandchildren. Everybody lives together. It's very common
in China for people who live together as a family,
(08:19):
not individual in their homes, but all the family living
together is very common. Actually.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well, some cultures out here in the world are the
same way similar, yes.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So that is something that you see a lot in
the countryside, for example, people living in a big household
and the farm and the animals, a lot of animals around.
It's just not many big buildings and develop buildings like
it is in chi Jin, I would say, and people
(08:49):
are not going to speak English at all.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
From a business sense, though, do you do business you
have business transactions out of the larger cities, or do
you concentrate your international tradia.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
We guess it's mostly the major it's concentrated. Yes, it's
our the manufacturers we have contact with. For example, in
my in my company is mainly in chan Gin because
chin Jin has a lot of big companies. Corporations are
in chian Gin and some some factories for example it's steel,
(09:26):
steel props or anything like that is more to the
north of China, so they are actually in the countryside.
But there are big companies, so they're they're not very
it's not it's not very far through. The country is
more concentrated where the big cities are. But some manufacturers,
(09:49):
I would say, they go a little further just because
of the size of the land. But but the majority
of our clients are actually international clients. We just do
the contact of the big manufacturers in China to the
outside clients.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
And your clients and your clients or clients in China
or clients outside of China, which way you work there.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
The majority is outside of China. So we have a
lot of clients in Brazil right now, and Africa and Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
for example, and some in the United States, but the
majority is outside. The only we have one one side
of the company is an import of wines and coffee.
(10:36):
Then we sell for the internal market in China. But
the market of wine in China is still something that
is growing. People are not culturally, they're not used to
drinking wine, so it's something that is growing and we
are trying to get this growing trend. But let me
(10:57):
tell you it's not that easy. It's not is it
to change the taste of people and to educate them
in a sense of oh, this is an actual alcoholic
drink that it's very nice, applicable to multiple occasions and
all because Chinese people drink a lot, but they drink
a lot of sakki, which is the bai joe, and
(11:23):
a lot of beer. They drink a lot of beer.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I realize.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
A lot of beer from Germany and actually they produce
some very good local beers too, But the wine industry
is something that is more for the new and young
generation of people that want to become international and want
to try out wide. So we're trying, we are trying
to get to that.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Well, that's how business starts. You have to try anything
new has somebody has to start and a cultural eduction
in the sense of trying new products. It works both ways, yes,
but having the cultural connections that you have was also helpful.
(12:11):
And you're you're friend for our listeners. You're from a
part of Brazil that's a wine country. The southern part
of Brazil is known for wines.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yes, I grew up with wine. I'm I have Italian
family destines, so I am very used to drinking wine
growing up and that was always something that I wanted
to work with because I myself I enjoy wine, so
it's something that I always liked it. And the south
(12:41):
of Brazil, Yes, we produced very good wines. And actually
I was in Brazil last October and I brought my boyfriend,
who is the founder of the company that we established here,
and he went to the wineries in Brazil he was
able to try out some wines there. So it was
very interesting because he never had Brazilian wine before because
(13:02):
as we know, as we know, Brazil doesn't make a
very good market of itself.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Not true, they have good products, but somebody has to
do the market.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, so yes, we have wines. We have a lot
of wines in the south, which is very interesting for
people who like it and what we are in Brazil
and enjoy wine travel to the south.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, where I am right now in Brazil, I mean
a little city called Vignedo, and Vigne the word Vignedo
means vineyard and this is the city here. We have
vineyards throughout the city and it's a table wine. It's
(13:42):
not the wines that you have in the south, but
it's a table And actually this week we're going and
it's the annual wine festival and the grape Festival. It's
the Grape and Wine Festival. And that's really exciting, so
very nice.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yes, those are nice. So yeah, that's pretty much our business.
We're trying to get into the wine in China. I
think that's a potential market here. It's a product that
has a lot of potential, but it needs to be developed.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
But also for them for companies outside of China, companies
in Brazil you mentioned Africa or anywhere else, if they're
interested in having somebody do the sourcing for them in China,
that would that would be you. That's what you do.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
That is our main business. We have a lot of
companies importers in Brazil and in Africa that want to
bring especially we have the majority of clients is in
the construction industry because constructions, especially in those countries that
are not as developed, like in South America or in Africa,
(14:45):
they need a lot of materials, They need a lot
of products that they don't find in their countries, and
the price in China is cheaper.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's one of the things I noticed. Back to the
social media and how people use social media, and I've
been on this red note the amount and assume any
social media you get on you start looking at something
or for something, then you are automatically get thousands of
things from that. But I was very impressed and talking
about civil construction of the sort of ready made or
(15:18):
factory made dwellings and constructions you know that fold down
or fold up there and they're shippable. You know, they're exportable.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yes, they're very practical.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Very durable, and I was impressed at the number of
companies that offer a wide variety of products and they're
all very attractive.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yes, Actually there's an unbelievable amount of stuff in China
that we don't The people from outside have no idea,
and actually everything is possible here us in contact with
this manufacturer. Sometimes a client actually one time as oh,
do you have something like this? But this product doesn't exist.
(16:02):
You can actually talk to the manufacturers to make it
by order specifically to your needs. If you have the
right context and the right people that can do it,
they can do whatever.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
You want it just actually they want to do it.
They're open to do.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
They are open. They Chinese people love business. If you
talk business, you talk their language. They love money. So
any opportunity that they have, especially to be abroad, they
will take it. So yes, we play that part of
(16:37):
starting agent. Also because we have the ability to have
the languages in our company. We have native people speaking,
people that speak English, people that speak Portuguese, people that Spanish,
so it helps you know there's no miscommunication.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Right, that's important to have. The credibility comes from being
able to understand and being understood.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yes, a lot of people are sketched. They get sketched
out about doing business with China because they don't trust,
because they don't know how to communicate right, They don't
know if they're gonna get scammed or I'm not sure.
You know, if you have somebody that can vouch for
you and you can go physically, go see the product,
(17:27):
see the people, that makes it easier.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
That does and that's in many places in the world.
You want to do something. Credibility, reliability and backup. That's part.
That's an interesting part. I think that's what business is
about today.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
It is it's about I think the main part of
business nowadays is about communications. As we were talking earlier,
everything is a voice in the world. You need to
be able to communicate with people. You speak Portuguese and English.
You live in Brazil, mine, you do business in Brazil.
But if you or in Brazil when you almost speak English,
you lose a lot of market.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
You know, you don't get the understanding and you might
not get it. Like you said, people may feel strange
that you're here and you don't speak the language. Yes, yes,
that's really the way it is. And you need to
speak to be able to understand the nuances of business.
Of course, years ago I learned that, you know, okay,
people Brazilians always saying okay. But then I was you know,
(18:27):
I thought okay was okay, and they agreed with what
you were saying. So for the Americans, I say, okay,
you think okay, I agree, right, yeah. But in Brazil, okay,
it's just okay. It doesn't it doesn't mean I agree
with you. It just means okay.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
That's funny.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
But that I'm sure that happens with you there and everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I learned one of the first the first words I
learned in Chinese was it means okay.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
That's worldwide, just okay.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Sometimes sometimes somebody tries to come and speak to me
and I don't understand, and I say, do it, do it?
I understand, So that is something funny, man.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
And to social media, because you're active, and I said,
we actually met on social media, yes, and which was
your red note and you were speaking in Mandarin and there's
a transition. I saw you and you were talking about
lifestyle and things and cooking and a number of things.
Because the red note is sort of like an Instagram
(19:38):
type posting thing, right, short videos and things, but very informative,
very culturally sensitive, and that's that's one of the things
I appreciate being there, is really getting a better cultural
understanding of how is life in China? And you're showing that, well,
how is life in China from a foreigner's point of view,
(19:58):
And that's good.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yes, Red Book is very different than the other social
media's because it has a lot of rules and regulations
that the other platforms don't use, which you think are
very important, specific words, pictures, videos. There is a screening
before you post, and if it's not the standards, you
(20:22):
don't post, you cannot use. You can occurse usually on
those platforms, which I don't think it happens on Instagram,
for example. It's just not very regulated in that sense.
But the Red Book is a way that the Chinese
people show their daily lives. They're going to find a
lot of Chinese showing their daily lives.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Very respectful of each other.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yes, yes, they are very aware that they are on
a social platform and other people are going to watch it,
which I noticed that is a cultural thing. People are
aware of what they say in public very much so.
And now that a lot of international people are using
(21:09):
red notes. The Chinese like it because they can actually
show how it is the life of them here and
that the world is going to see them.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
That's true that I've been seeing that I've been watching,
and I watch all the different things. Its be manufactured.
It could be lifestyle, it could be my cat. One
of the things that tress me the cats. It likes
to show cats.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So they love cats. I know.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I actually got pictures of I don't have a cat,
but I went and got pictures of cats from friends
of mine to be able to post, because I says, well,
to be accepted one.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I think cats is their favorite animal in China is cats.
Everywhere you go, their wild cats everywhere. We're always feeding them.
They take them home. They love the cat.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
But that's the culture aspect of how do you be
friends with the Chinese? Show my cat?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Yes, for sure, if you have like a picture, if
you have your own cats, you become best friends. We
love it.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Really, it's impressive, fantastic. But anyway, do you have a cat?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I have a dog?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Well, well, dogs I think are accepted there too.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I have a dog and they actually the dogs are growing.
This is something I didn't know. But the Chinese society,
they didn't grow up having dogs. They always had cats. Actually,
dogs is a food in many places.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
A hot dog. It's a hot dog.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yes, which is more in the north of China. But
now they are trying to ban to ban the food
industry to use dog food because many people, especially young people,
are having dogs as pets. Nowadays. It's normal, it's normal
to have dogs, but the elders usually are afraid of
(23:01):
the dog, or they they think they don't know. They
don't know a dog as much as they know a cat.
Let's just put it like that. So I have a
little dog.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So the cultural aspects of being in another place very good. Well, Veronica,
we're coming to the end of our time to thank you.
It's really been enjoyable. Congratulations on what you do and
how you do it and the success that you're having there.
It's impressive. So how can our listeners find you?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
I'm on all social media platforms. On LinkedIn, my name
is Veronica ZV Veronica with a case V E R
O N I KA in any social media is with K.
I'm on Instagram, Facebook. My company's website is they do
(23:51):
foreign trade, so it's v edu T. We do trade,
not foreign trade. We do trade bid the trade dot
com dot c n. Yes, that is the that is
the company's website and you can find me there, Veronica
with k and all social media's very good.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Well, thanks again for being.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
With us, Thank you so much for the opportunity, and again.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
For our listeners. It's Veronica Viegas v E r O
n I k A. The last name v I E
g A s. You find her on LinkedIn and the
company website website Vedo Trade dot com dot c N.
That's v E d U t r A d E
dot com dot c N. Talk to Brazil's brought to
(24:39):
us by Focus, a Market intelligence specializing in market research
for the Brazilian agricultural market. More about them at their
site f O c U S m I dot com.
Remember when you talk to Tom, you talk to the world. Goodbye,
and thanks for listening. Thanks for listening to Tom Riok
on Talk to Brazil, the Business Connector to Brazil
Welcome to Talk to Brazil with Tom Riok, the business
connector to business in Brazil. Talk to Brazil podcast talks
with business experts throughout the world. I'm Tom Reark, connecting
people from my studio in Brazil. Joining us today from Shensen, China.
Veronica Viegas a Brazilian and an international trade specialist at
(00:24):
VDO Foreign Trade in Shensen, China. So Veronica and Veronica
and I met on a Chinese social media platform, red
Note or red Book as they call it, where I
followed her on many posts about lifestyle in China so Veronica.
First of all, as a foreigner, how is it living
and working in China?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hi, Tom, thanks for the invite. I'm very happy to
be here. So life in China is pretty different. It's crazy. Actually,
I never thought I would be living in China. First
of all, that was never a country that I thought
I would be coming to. But since I met my
(01:08):
boyfriend six years ago in the United States and he's Chinese,
he decided to come here to China after the pandemic
and invited me to come. He was like, maybe maybe
you should try to come to China. It might be
a good experience. For you. And also if it doesn't work,
you can all go back, like I can always go
back because or something, So you.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Go back to Brazil or go back somewhere right somewhere.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
And I'm actually a very adventurous person, so I was
up the task. And since living here, I've been living
here for two and a half years now and I'm
used to it in a general sense, but I noticed
a lot of differences in lifestyles that I was not used,
(02:01):
but not in a bad way, in a good way actually,
because the advancements in China is just something that actually
amazed me. And I always talk about it, how advanced
it is in technological way and how life, everyday life
became easier, just easier in the country, easier for people
(02:26):
who are here. Yes, they facilitate a lot. For example,
I actually never seen a Chinese bill dollar bill. I
don't know how it is the Chinese money, because everything
is on the phone. You have to pay everything by
the phone, and if you don't have your phone, you
(02:46):
can all go out pretty much. That you just make
sure that you always have battery on your phone. That
is that was a cultural shock for me, But I
actually think it's it's good in a sense of you
have everything you need at the tipper, have your fingers
because you can order, you can order anything online and
(03:08):
it's going to be at your house in a couple
of minutes. That is something that I was not used to.
And it's like from everything I mean, medicines, groceries and
things for past house of anything.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, really you were comparing to life in the United States,
where you still walk wrong with the money in your pocket.
And you know that's true.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
That is true in Brazil. I don't think it is
as a best, well.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
But it's almost like today here in Brazil. I haven't
I don't walk around with money. We don't use money anymore, yes,
for a long time. So it's all on the phone.
It's all what they call picks here. It's all.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
If you want to buy an orange from a street vendor,
it's it's an electronic transfer.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
There's no money.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
That is in the United States, it's not that way.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes, it's a bit different on that, but well in
China it's just another another level. Oh yes. That One
thing that amazed me in China is that when you
go to hotels here sometimes they're gonna have robots in
the hotels to bring you stuff to your room instead
(04:18):
of actual people. That is something I was not used to.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That's not something from a movie. That's that's real, that happens.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
No, that is real. That is real. Usually usually the
majority of the hotels nowadays, Like you ask for an
extra pillow, or you order food in your room, and
then the front desk is gonna send the robots to
knock on your door and you just get it from it,
and it even talks to you. It says here it
is bah bah. You say thank you, and it goes away.
(04:48):
It's unbelievable actually, and you.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Keep ordering just to see the robot come right.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Becomes your best friend. Now, those this actually.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Travel with children that would probably order stuff day and
night just to see the robots.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yes, these are actually very fun things that happen in
China that sometimes it's just like some AI thing or
like a robot that just goes around. They are trying
to introduce robot policemen in places now, which I've seen
in a couple of places. It's just like a robot
(05:26):
with blue lights like looking around. But I don't know
if it actually something happens. I don't know how much
the robot can do, honestly, but.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Just being out on the street and walking around, how
do you feel, Yeah, does it feel like you're on
Star Wars or not?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
A little bit? It feels actually living here feels like
you're in a bubble a little bit. You feel like
you're in a different place because everything is different. The
vibe is different, the culture is different. But it is
actually very safe, very clean, and very advanced. I have
(06:05):
no complaints of living changing. Actually it's a lot of
international people that live here, and the quality of life
is good here. It's actually very good. We have access
to a lot of different foods, like international cuisines, not
just Chinese but actually international cuisines, and shopping malls. Other
(06:30):
cities like Shanghai and Beijing is the same thing. So
the main cities in China is actually very good to
live in.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
When you get into the interior of the country, how
is that? What changes?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
What changes is that people are not as used to
seeing a foreign person, so they're gonna maybe look at
you a little bit weird, or they're gonna pay attention
to you more. And it's not as clean as the
(07:03):
main cities, the big cities, and it's more populated. There's
actually a lot of people that live in the countryside today,
and the quality of life of those people is not
as I would say clean and and as is structured
(07:23):
as in the city. Like you're going to see them
in houses, but the houses sometimes don't have like stuff
and all. But that's some other places in the world
is like that too.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Have they have a house? From what I've seen, everybody
lives in a house, right.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Actually, that is one that is one thing that I
noticed and I ask people around here. I don't see
homeless people in China actually, and the government has a
place that they have for the people their lower income
to live. But one thing that happens in China, the
(07:57):
majority of people are not homeless because they live in
the countryside and those places are not even regulated, so
they usually just stay there. They don't lose their homes
and they stay there for the rest of their lives
and even their grandchildren. Everybody lives together. It's very common
in China for people who live together as a family,
(08:19):
not individual in their homes, but all the family living
together is very common. Actually.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well, some cultures out here in the world are the
same way similar, yes.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So that is something that you see a lot in
the countryside, for example, people living in a big household
and the farm and the animals, a lot of animals around.
It's just not many big buildings and develop buildings like
it is in chi Jin, I would say, and people
(08:49):
are not going to speak English at all.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
From a business sense, though, do you do business you
have business transactions out of the larger cities, or do
you concentrate your international tradia.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
We guess it's mostly the major it's concentrated. Yes, it's
our the manufacturers we have contact with. For example, in
my in my company is mainly in chan Gin because
chin Jin has a lot of big companies. Corporations are
in chian Gin and some some factories for example it's steel,
(09:26):
steel props or anything like that is more to the
north of China, so they are actually in the countryside.
But there are big companies, so they're they're not very
it's not it's not very far through. The country is
more concentrated where the big cities are. But some manufacturers,
(09:49):
I would say, they go a little further just because
of the size of the land. But but the majority
of our clients are actually international clients. We just do
the contact of the big manufacturers in China to the
outside clients.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
And your clients and your clients or clients in China
or clients outside of China, which way you work there.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
The majority is outside of China. So we have a
lot of clients in Brazil right now, and Africa and Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
for example, and some in the United States, but the
majority is outside. The only we have one one side
of the company is an import of wines and coffee.
(10:36):
Then we sell for the internal market in China. But
the market of wine in China is still something that
is growing. People are not culturally, they're not used to
drinking wine, so it's something that is growing and we
are trying to get this growing trend. But let me
(10:57):
tell you it's not that easy. It's not is it
to change the taste of people and to educate them
in a sense of oh, this is an actual alcoholic
drink that it's very nice, applicable to multiple occasions and
all because Chinese people drink a lot, but they drink
a lot of sakki, which is the bai joe, and
(11:23):
a lot of beer. They drink a lot of beer.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I realize.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
A lot of beer from Germany and actually they produce
some very good local beers too, But the wine industry
is something that is more for the new and young
generation of people that want to become international and want
to try out wide. So we're trying, we are trying
to get to that.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Well, that's how business starts. You have to try anything
new has somebody has to start and a cultural eduction
in the sense of trying new products. It works both ways, yes,
but having the cultural connections that you have was also helpful.
(12:11):
And you're you're friend for our listeners. You're from a
part of Brazil that's a wine country. The southern part
of Brazil is known for wines.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yes, I grew up with wine. I'm I have Italian
family destines, so I am very used to drinking wine
growing up and that was always something that I wanted
to work with because I myself I enjoy wine, so
it's something that I always liked it. And the south
(12:41):
of Brazil, Yes, we produced very good wines. And actually
I was in Brazil last October and I brought my boyfriend,
who is the founder of the company that we established here,
and he went to the wineries in Brazil he was
able to try out some wines there. So it was
very interesting because he never had Brazilian wine before because
(13:02):
as we know, as we know, Brazil doesn't make a
very good market of itself.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Not true, they have good products, but somebody has to
do the market.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, so yes, we have wines. We have a lot
of wines in the south, which is very interesting for
people who like it and what we are in Brazil
and enjoy wine travel to the south.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, where I am right now in Brazil, I mean
a little city called Vignedo, and Vigne the word Vignedo
means vineyard and this is the city here. We have
vineyards throughout the city and it's a table wine. It's
(13:42):
not the wines that you have in the south, but
it's a table And actually this week we're going and
it's the annual wine festival and the grape Festival. It's
the Grape and Wine Festival. And that's really exciting, so
very nice.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yes, those are nice. So yeah, that's pretty much our business.
We're trying to get into the wine in China. I
think that's a potential market here. It's a product that
has a lot of potential, but it needs to be developed.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
But also for them for companies outside of China, companies
in Brazil you mentioned Africa or anywhere else, if they're
interested in having somebody do the sourcing for them in China,
that would that would be you. That's what you do.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
That is our main business. We have a lot of
companies importers in Brazil and in Africa that want to
bring especially we have the majority of clients is in
the construction industry because constructions, especially in those countries that
are not as developed, like in South America or in Africa,
(14:45):
they need a lot of materials, They need a lot
of products that they don't find in their countries, and
the price in China is cheaper.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's one of the things I noticed. Back to the
social media and how people use social media, and I've
been on this red note the amount and assume any
social media you get on you start looking at something
or for something, then you are automatically get thousands of
things from that. But I was very impressed and talking
about civil construction of the sort of ready made or
(15:18):
factory made dwellings and constructions you know that fold down
or fold up there and they're shippable. You know, they're exportable.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yes, they're very practical.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Very durable, and I was impressed at the number of
companies that offer a wide variety of products and they're
all very attractive.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yes, Actually there's an unbelievable amount of stuff in China
that we don't The people from outside have no idea,
and actually everything is possible here us in contact with
this manufacturer. Sometimes a client actually one time as oh,
do you have something like this? But this product doesn't exist.
(16:02):
You can actually talk to the manufacturers to make it
by order specifically to your needs. If you have the
right context and the right people that can do it,
they can do whatever.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
You want it just actually they want to do it.
They're open to do.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
They are open. They Chinese people love business. If you
talk business, you talk their language. They love money. So
any opportunity that they have, especially to be abroad, they
will take it. So yes, we play that part of
(16:37):
starting agent. Also because we have the ability to have
the languages in our company. We have native people speaking,
people that speak English, people that speak Portuguese, people that Spanish,
so it helps you know there's no miscommunication.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Right, that's important to have. The credibility comes from being
able to understand and being understood.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yes, a lot of people are sketched. They get sketched
out about doing business with China because they don't trust,
because they don't know how to communicate right, They don't
know if they're gonna get scammed or I'm not sure.
You know, if you have somebody that can vouch for
you and you can go physically, go see the product,
(17:27):
see the people, that makes it easier.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
That does and that's in many places in the world.
You want to do something. Credibility, reliability and backup. That's part.
That's an interesting part. I think that's what business is
about today.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
It is it's about I think the main part of
business nowadays is about communications. As we were talking earlier,
everything is a voice in the world. You need to
be able to communicate with people. You speak Portuguese and English.
You live in Brazil, mine, you do business in Brazil.
But if you or in Brazil when you almost speak English,
you lose a lot of market.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
You know, you don't get the understanding and you might
not get it. Like you said, people may feel strange
that you're here and you don't speak the language. Yes, yes,
that's really the way it is. And you need to
speak to be able to understand the nuances of business.
Of course, years ago I learned that, you know, okay,
people Brazilians always saying okay. But then I was you know,
(18:27):
I thought okay was okay, and they agreed with what
you were saying. So for the Americans, I say, okay,
you think okay, I agree, right, yeah. But in Brazil, okay,
it's just okay. It doesn't it doesn't mean I agree
with you. It just means okay.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
That's funny.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
But that I'm sure that happens with you there and everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I learned one of the first the first words I
learned in Chinese was it means okay.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
That's worldwide, just okay.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Sometimes sometimes somebody tries to come and speak to me
and I don't understand, and I say, do it, do it?
I understand, So that is something funny, man.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
And to social media, because you're active, and I said,
we actually met on social media, yes, and which was
your red note and you were speaking in Mandarin and there's
a transition. I saw you and you were talking about
lifestyle and things and cooking and a number of things.
Because the red note is sort of like an Instagram
(19:38):
type posting thing, right, short videos and things, but very informative,
very culturally sensitive, and that's that's one of the things
I appreciate being there, is really getting a better cultural
understanding of how is life in China? And you're showing that, well,
how is life in China from a foreigner's point of view,
(19:58):
And that's good.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yes, Red Book is very different than the other social
media's because it has a lot of rules and regulations
that the other platforms don't use, which you think are
very important, specific words, pictures, videos. There is a screening
before you post, and if it's not the standards, you
(20:22):
don't post, you cannot use. You can occurse usually on
those platforms, which I don't think it happens on Instagram,
for example. It's just not very regulated in that sense.
But the Red Book is a way that the Chinese
people show their daily lives. They're going to find a
lot of Chinese showing their daily lives.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Very respectful of each other.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yes, yes, they are very aware that they are on
a social platform and other people are going to watch it,
which I noticed that is a cultural thing. People are
aware of what they say in public very much so.
And now that a lot of international people are using
(21:09):
red notes. The Chinese like it because they can actually
show how it is the life of them here and
that the world is going to see them.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
That's true that I've been seeing that I've been watching,
and I watch all the different things. Its be manufactured.
It could be lifestyle, it could be my cat. One
of the things that tress me the cats. It likes
to show cats.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So they love cats. I know.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I actually got pictures of I don't have a cat,
but I went and got pictures of cats from friends
of mine to be able to post, because I says, well,
to be accepted one.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I think cats is their favorite animal in China is cats.
Everywhere you go, their wild cats everywhere. We're always feeding them.
They take them home. They love the cat.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
But that's the culture aspect of how do you be
friends with the Chinese? Show my cat?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Yes, for sure, if you have like a picture, if
you have your own cats, you become best friends. We
love it.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Really, it's impressive, fantastic. But anyway, do you have a cat?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I have a dog?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Well, well, dogs I think are accepted there too.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I have a dog and they actually the dogs are growing.
This is something I didn't know. But the Chinese society,
they didn't grow up having dogs. They always had cats. Actually,
dogs is a food in many places.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
A hot dog. It's a hot dog.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yes, which is more in the north of China. But
now they are trying to ban to ban the food
industry to use dog food because many people, especially young people,
are having dogs as pets. Nowadays. It's normal, it's normal
to have dogs, but the elders usually are afraid of
(23:01):
the dog, or they they think they don't know. They
don't know a dog as much as they know a cat.
Let's just put it like that. So I have a
little dog.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So the cultural aspects of being in another place very good. Well, Veronica,
we're coming to the end of our time to thank you.
It's really been enjoyable. Congratulations on what you do and
how you do it and the success that you're having there.
It's impressive. So how can our listeners find you?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
I'm on all social media platforms. On LinkedIn, my name
is Veronica ZV Veronica with a case V E R
O N I KA in any social media is with K.
I'm on Instagram, Facebook. My company's website is they do
(23:51):
foreign trade, so it's v edu T. We do trade,
not foreign trade. We do trade bid the trade dot
com dot c n. Yes, that is the that is
the company's website and you can find me there, Veronica
with k and all social media's very good.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Well, thanks again for being.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
With us, Thank you so much for the opportunity, and again.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
For our listeners. It's Veronica Viegas v E r O
n I k A. The last name v I E
g A s. You find her on LinkedIn and the
company website website Vedo Trade dot com dot c N.
That's v E d U t r A d E
dot com dot c N. Talk to Brazil's brought to
(24:39):
us by Focus, a Market intelligence specializing in market research
for the Brazilian agricultural market. More about them at their
site f O c U S m I dot com.
Remember when you talk to Tom, you talk to the world. Goodbye,
and thanks for listening. Thanks for listening to Tom Riok
on Talk to Brazil, the Business Connector to Brazil
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