Standing at the forefront of international trade

Two organisms are closely bound together under mutually beneficial conditions, called "symbiosis". Such is the relationship between international trade and Global Sources. Benefiting from this are Asian manufacturers, sellers and buyers from the West.

This symbiotic relationship can be clearly seen in the following memorabilia. These events highlight significant advances in trade and the contribution Global Sources has made to drive those advances. Both historical experiences can benefit an advancing China.

After World War II: A Catalyst Much Needed
The Allies boosted trade between war-torn countries, spurring growth in all walks of life.

The process of international trade The world was a mess right after World War II. Major cities are in ruins. Asia's economies are extremely underdeveloped, if not devastated. Asian economies lack the infrastructure and human capital needed to drive development. Private sector investment is low.

The big companies in the West are incapable of helping. Entrepreneurs in Asia want to start companies and drive local economies, but they don't have the funding. Both sides need catalysts.

The catalysts are institutions such as the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. They were tasked with issuing loans to finance reconstruction and development projects after World War II. These institutions encourage the development of private Asian companies whose products are competitively priced and of acceptable quality to Western buyers.

International trade requires some principles to regulate. So 23 countries signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 to promote free trade.

International trade thrives in this new environment. As a result, poverty, which some see as an inducement to war, has been alleviated.

Global Sources Contributions Just as post-war developing countries need catalysts to finance economic development, global trade itself needs catalysts to facilitate interactions between buyers and sellers.

Buyers need useful, accurate, and independent information. Sellers need to attract buyers with clear advertising messages.

Global Sources is not yet established at this time. But Global Sources will be an important catalyst to bring buyers and suppliers together.

Like the mechanisms established after the war to prevent conflict and economic depression, Global Sources clearly recognizes the link between trade and peace. From the very beginning, its mission was based on the idea that "only the establishment of lasting and mutually beneficial trade relations between merchants in the East and the West can promote material abundance and thereby realize the ideal of world peace".

Global Sources continually strives to expand two customer communities - buyers and suppliers. As of September 2005, the buy-side customer community had 463,517 members worldwide; registered sell-side members reached 130,000.

1950s: The Rise of Japan
The success of Japanese-made transistor radios revealed that a country can be successful as long as it has the right infrastructure.

The process of international trade If the concept of economic reconstruction is a great theory, the rise of Japanese exports is the first perfect testament to this theory.

Japanese trading companies pinpoint products that are most likely to be marketed globally. Japanese manufacturers followed, hitting various market segments around the world, often launching upgraded versions of existing products and then continually updating those products.

Driven by the manufacturing industry, Japan's economy has been able to grow rapidly for a long time. In 1955, Sony introduced Japan's first transistor radio. Sony's success has inspired other Japanese companies. By 1959, the United States imported more than six million radios, more than half of Japan's national production. Transistor radios became Japan's fourth-largest export, contributing half of the country's dollar revenue.

In addition to their success with transistor radios, Japanese manufacturers have captured the world's largest market share for many other products. In less than two decades, Japan has proven to the world that a country ravaged by war and lacking in natural resources can grow rapidly by exporting marketable products.

Global Sources' contribution saw a recovery in Japan, when the yet-to-be-established Asia Sources (predecessor to Global Sources) established its first sales office in Tokyo.

Naturally, Asian Sources' first industry-specific issue was Asian Sources Electronics, which was curated and published in Tokyo. Some of the magazine's first advertisers still advertise in Global Sources publications today.

The boom in Japan's electronics industry has since reappeared in other Asian countries and other industries in the region. The surge in product supply from the East has left buyers in the West at a loss when it comes to choosing the right supplier. Global Sources aims to meet these information needs, and this is what it has been doing so far in a variety of ways - in print, on its website and at exhibitions.

1960s: Export Pushing
Asia gradually abandoned its import substitution strategy and replaced it with an export push strategy.

The process of international trade in the 1960s had two main modes of economic development: import substitution and export promotion.

Import substitution is a policy aimed at promoting industrial development to replace imported products with locally produced products, especially in the field of spare parts. The local industries producing these products are protected by tariffs and quotas, thus avoiding control by multinational corporations. The risk of this strategy is to protect the domestic industry from the inefficiencies and productivity inefficiencies that international competition can lead to, as well as the high unit cost of products that customers have to pay.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) initially advocated import substitution strategies, especially for India and China. Import substitution policies have enabled the development of certain industries in some Asian countries, evident in the electronics industry. Since then, the United Nations has also supported export-boosting policies that have contributed to the development of export-focused economies like the “Four East Asian Tigers.”

Countries that want to use trade to drive economic growth have adopted export-driven policies. By exposing domestic industries directly to international competition, domestic industries become more efficient, increasing productivity and reducing unit costs. Export-driven policies are highly influenced by the world economy and terms of trade, and the risk is that domestic industries may also fail.

Following Japan's apparent success after World War II, several East Asian countries have also implemented export growth-oriented development strategies. Taking advantage of existing natural resources, relatively cheap labor costs and convenient international shipping routes, these countries have concentrated their economies on developing consumer goods for export.

Many economists attribute the outperformance of these East Asian economies to export-boosting policies. The success of export-focused economies "appears to have demonstrated to world leaders and academics that a globally oriented market-oriented strategy can facilitate development in some ways," an article on the United Nations website said.

Global Sources Contribution In 1965, Merle Hinrichs traveled to Asia to sell advertising pages for a trade magazine called The Importer. For suppliers and their products, trade magazines play an important role in providing information to buyers.

The Importer's high-quality advertising and distribution, as well as editorial objectivity, sets the standard in the publishing industry. These strict standards are followed by the later established Global Sources to this day.

Shortly after arriving in Asia, Harrison became a top salesman. His sales philosophy - a deep understanding of customer needs - laid the foundation for the customer-centric corporate culture that Global Sources would become known for. In every country, the company's sales team is better at building strong relationships with customers.

Recognizing that customers need more specialized information, Hallis envisioned building a publishing group around several specialized trade magazines, rather than just a general magazine.

In November 1970, Harris and his partner Joe Bendy established Trade Media Ltd. In January 1971 they launched their first magazine, called Asian Sources.

The magazine's editorial articles cover the then thriving export industries—clothing and accessories, leisure and entertainment, furniture and toys, and stationery. Its editorial articles are objective and fair, and meet the high standards that Western buyers expect.

The first issue of the magazine's advertisers was 130 companies -- a good start.

1970s-1980s: The Four East Asian Tigers
By developing exports, the East Asian Tigers developed rapidly and achieved economic success.

The process of international trade The "Four Little Dragons" are nicknames for Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Especially in the 1970s and 1980s, these regions and countries rapidly industrialized and achieved high growth rates.

They are following the same economic development path: export-oriented. Investment and development funds are flowing into these regions and countries on an unprecedented scale. With these funds they acquired technology at a lower cost. Market conditions are also in their favor, as the world market opens doors for their products. Better education and training enables workers in these countries to produce a wide variety of marketable products that combine low cost with satisfactory quality.

Global Sources Contribution Global Sources is at the center of the Four Tigers' rapid export growth. The company's role as a bridge between Asian suppliers and Western buyers, and it will continue to do so.

The company's belief in the manufacturing potential of Asian countries has been proven in Japan and the Four Tigers. Between 1970 and 1994, the value of exports from Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore increased by 3,500 percent. During the same time period, the number of ad pages sold by Asian Sources has grown 100 times.

Contrasting with the expansion of the various export-oriented products manufactured by the East Asian Tigers, Asian Resources Group has grown from a single publication to a series of specialized publications for different industries.

Publications under the Asian Sources brand include computer products, electronics, electronic components, fashion and apparel, gifts and homewares, hardware, telecommunications products, and watches.

1960s-1980s: The Container Revolution
The widespread use of containers and pallets in freight transport revolutionized the transportation industry, making supply chains more efficient.

How does the process of international trade allow for faster transfer of products from the manufacturer to the customer? Several important answers emerged from the 1960s.

The first is container shipping. A truck driver named Malcom McLean came up with the idea of container shipping while watching dockworkers move cargo piece by piece. He thought, "It would be great if I could simply hoist my trailer and put it on the boat." He turned the idea into reality and became "the father of container shipping."

By the 1960s container shipping achieved widespread commercial success. Today, around 90 percent of all cargo transport is carried out in containers stacked on freighters. Shipping experts refer to container shipping as "the preferred mode of transport for most cargo".

World trade in the 1970s saw another innovation in transportation: the use of pallets in air freight. Large transport aircraft also came into use during this period, and together the two provided exporters with another tool that greatly saved freight time.

Package courier services that emerged in the 1980s had the same impact on delivery times, allowing exporters to quickly meet buyers' needs.

Global Sources Contribution Global Sources makes the supply chain between East and West more efficient in different ways.

Manufacturers in Asia can get samples to potential buyers in less time. They can also ship the product in less time after getting the order. By advertising in Global Sources publications, exporters can connect more quickly with potential buyers. Buyers can discover the information they need faster and start the entire supply chain earlier.

Starting in the late 1980s, Global Sources has also been directly involved in the shipping process. The company integrates the shipping processing system into the trade software provided by the company's trade division. Customers can share, obtain and track information with less effort than ever before.

Today, Global Sources has partnered with DHL, UPS, FedEx and TNT to launch a web-based service called Track Your Cargo that enables Customers are able to track the delivery package at any time and obtain cargo information from anywhere in the world.

Global Sources has transformed many Asian manufacturers from operations-driven to customer-driven by helping them connect and transact with customers faster.

1980s: China Opens up
Mainland China puts its vision of development into action, attracting foreign investment and technology, and focusing on exports.

The progress of international trade China's leaders are not indifferent to the success of the East Asian Tigers. Comrade Xiaoping initiated reforms that changed China's development strategy. Although import substitution has enabled China's electronics industry to develop, reforms have increasingly focused on light industry and export-driven economic growth. Export earnings are reinvested in more technologically advanced production facilities, boosting capital expenditure and investment.

The opening-up policy has made mainland China one of the protagonists in international trade. Almost immediately, the value of mainland China's exports rose rapidly, boosting the economy.

In order to promote the construction of export infrastructure, after careful study of technology zones in Taiwan and Singapore, the Chinese government created special economic zones on the mainland, giving them greater autonomy to engage in international trade activities. These SEZs attract and utilize foreign capital and are mainly engaged in the manufacture of export-oriented products, with the market as the main driving force.

Through keenly learning the experience of the Four East Asian Tigers and prudently regulating their own development, mainland China has spent 20 years following the development path that others have experienced in 50 years, catching up and eventually surpassing the achievements of the East Asian Tigers.

The historic agreement between the United States and China in 1999 paved the way for China to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). China joined the WTO on December 11, 2001.

Joining the WTO has added new impetus to China's trade. In 1990 China was the 15th largest trading nation in the world. By 2003 it was the fourth largest trading nation. China is on track to overtake Germany as the world's second-largest trading nation in 2008, and is likely to overtake the United States as the world's largest trading nation between 2015 and 2020.

Global Sources' Contribution When China Sources was published in February 1980, China's opening-up policy had not been implemented.

The speed at which the Chinese edition of the Asian Sources magazine was launched demonstrates the firm's confidence in China's future as the world's leading supplier of commodities. "China Export Commodities Special Issue" quickly became the world's largest publication on Chinese export commodities.

The opening of China's commerce to the outside world has sparked a need for Chinese manufacturers for global industry information. Among them, the demand for electronic industry information is particularly strong. To meet this need, Global Sources publishes the still popular International eBusiness. In the future, the company will continue to launch publications to meet the information needs of Chinese suppliers, and at the same time provide more information to buyers who purchase products from China.

As China manufactures more products for the world market as well as the growing domestic market, Chinese entrepreneurs need to understand how to better manage their companies. In order to meet this demand for management information, Global Sources launched "International Industry and Trade Business", the predecessor of "World Manager" in 1992. The magazine and its online editions provide information on management practices suitable for the Chinese business environment, and have maintained their status as the best in the country for such magazines. Today, World Manager has a circulation of more than 180,000 copies, and at least 68% of its readers are senior managers - outperforming other foreign business publications published in China.

Global Sources has always been committed to developing the Chinese market. As of November 30, 2005, the company had 1,393 employees working in 45 offices in China.