"When I was living in China, I realized there was a gap, there was a really big opportunity there between Spain and China," Laura Gonzalez Escallada tells CGTN.

So she founded Ni Hao Conecta, a business and communications platform between China, Spain, and Latin America.

The company has organized an event which brings Spanish, Latin American, Chinese and African people together at a prestigious location on Madrid's Gran Vía.

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'A great opportunity'

Ni Hao Conecta has only been in existence since 2022, but the interest and uptake has been increasing by the day, Gonzalez Escallada says.

"Now in 2023, on the 50th anniversary of official diplomatic relations between China and Spain, we realized there's a great opportunity for investment between China, Spain, and LATAM," she points out.

China has a growing middle class of over 400 million people, and Spanish and Latin American companies are looking East for growth. But how do you do business in China?

"One of the first things we are really focused on doing here in Spain is to explain to our clients and population that selling in China is not the same as selling here in Spain or Latin America," Escallada explains.

"The first thing we tell them to do is to open WeChat (A Chinese chat and social media platform similar to WhatsApp), we know how important it is to reach the wider population, so understanding how WeChat works and understanding consumer behavior, it's a really good way to understand how to best sell there."

How to succeed in the Chinese market

Using modern marketing tools and Chinese social media platforms like WeChat, Ni Hao Conecta and its team has over 20 years experience of living and operating as consultants in China, offering business insights that help companies succeed.

So what in their experience is the key to success?

"The key is to invest time, money, and to travel to China a lot," says Escallada. "It's not worth doing business from Spain or Latin America and not going there," she continues.

"So my first tip is to travel to China to get to know the people, get to know your customers, and get to know your partners."

Selling Iberian ham in China

Also at the event in Madrid is Bernardo Hernandez, a fourth generation family member of Beher, Iberian ham producers in Guijuelo, Salamanca. The family-owned and run company has been selling their products in China since 2008.

"Chinese consumers are looking for higher quality products all the time," Hernandez tells CGTN. "They value pork products and Iberico highly, it's a different kind of pork than they are used to, they really love this product and they are consuming it more and more every time."

So much so that Beher's prime products like bellota ham (Acorn-fed pork products) designated for China are frequently sold out.

Beher are collaborating with Ni Hao Conecta.

"Ni Hao Conecta is helping to introduce us to high-quality people, to better organize our sales structure in China, contacts in terms of legal aspects, logistics, to be able to enter the market in the correct way and with access to high quality advice," says Hernandez.

Spain-China ties at a high, trade on the rise

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's recent state visit to China marked an important moment for both countries politically. The trip also included a strong economic element with talks and deals happening too.

Bilateral trade is worth around $60 billion a year, and while Spain's exports to China have doubled over the past ten years, that figure is still at around $10 billion annually. Spain now buys more from China than it does any other country - including its biggest traditional trade partners like France and Germany - and wants more goods going the other way.

Agricultural products and food, along with tourism, are top of the list. A deal reached on Sanchez's recent visit aims to see 50,000 tonnes of Spanish almonds sold in China by 2025, with that figure set to rise to 90,000 by 2032.

Sanchez and finance officials also met with some of the huge tour operators in China to reignite the high-value tourism market arriving in Spain from China. Growing trade links between the two nations are set to continue on an upward trajectory, and companies like Ni Hao Conecta will play a key role in making it happen.

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