Tell me about your background.
All of my businesses are related to
doing business in China. I started in
1985, and that’s the year I moved to
Sacramento, and I started with lighting,
and I still have the lighting business
(called McWong International). We
manufacture in China and export a lot
of know-how and technology from the
United States, and we supply to the U.S.,
mainly advanced lighting components.
… Twenty-five years ago, I started a
company in environmental engineering
(called McWong Environmental and En-
ergy Group); I saw great opportunity in
China. We introduced U.S. technology
and equipment and the regulations and
all of these compliance requirements
to China — 25 years ago, it was a blank
page. We were able to create a lot of
opportunity in China by providing the
water-treatment solution for mainly in-
dustrial applications because in the last
2-3 decades, China has been building up
so much manufacturing, and environ-
mental engineering is one of the biggest
headaches they have. You can’t keep
doing manufacturing and polluting the
water. … Four years ago, I sold the com-
pany to a public company in China.
(In terms of the California Center),
I started to see a lot of good opportu-
nities in China about the emerging
middle class and the consumer needs
and (hunger) for the American lifestyle,
(hunger) for California lifestyle, in food,
education, entertainment, hospitality,
tourism, sports. … I was the first one to
bring the NBA competition to China in
2004, because I (saw) that China is so
enthused about basketball, especially
when Yao Ming joined Houston. I was
the one who proposed to the (Sacra-
mento) Kings — it was the Maloofs (as
the owners) at that time — that you
guys should start playing basketball in
China. … We said, “Houston just (got)
Yao Ming. If Kings played with Rockets
in China, I’m sure a lot of Chinese would
The due diligence effort on
knowing China — from what
they want and how they want (it) and
what the government requirements
are — that is a moving target.
Americans sometimes take for
granted that what we’re selling in
America can work for China. No, not
necessarily.
watch it.” The first (exhibition) game was
Sacramento Kings and Houston Rock-
ets. It was a blast. … We (also) do a lot of
programs in entertainment. I’m on the
board of Themed Entertainment Asso-
ciation Asia Pacific (division), because
Disney, Universal, all of these entertain-
ment theme parks are going to China.
There are at least 50 of them today on the
drawing boards. … We also partner with
the Culinary Institute of America. …
We are their partner in China; they are
introducing a lot of pro chef training, nu-
tritional programs, plant-forward pro-
grams, because they provide hospitality
to existing clients, including Disney,
including Marriott (hotels). Marriott is
building one hotel per week in China. So
you can imagine how much need (there
is) for hospitality.
You have connections with business
and government leaders in China.
What’s the importance of this insider
knowledge to a California business
trying to enter the China market?
Doing business in China is easy, but it’s
not that easy. Of course, 35 years ago,
when we first started, it was like im-
possible. Today, there is so much trade
between the two countries, you can get
opportunities in many different ways. I
think it is easy because China has a lot
of demand, a big market, and (the) U.S.
needs to export to the China market. For
big companies, it’s easy … to launch in
China because they have the manpower,
they have the money to be able to make
the investment. For some of these small-
er or middle-sized companies, they’re
having difficulty, but (there are) three
things I would advise them.
No. 1 is (you) always want to know
your buyers or your market. The due dil-
igence effort on knowing China — from
what they want and how they want (it)
and what the government requirements
are — that is a moving target. Ameri-
cans sometimes take for granted that
what we’re selling in America can work
for China. No, not necessarily. (China is)
still a very much government-
controlled market, so you’ve got to
study, and it will make your work a lot
easier. No. 2 is whether it’s import or
export, it’s a partnership. So we have to
be very open-minded in terms of how
to make it work. There are times that
… to keep the costs down, there are
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