A successful Cooperation in China

I joined WAD since 1999 and took part in the Mid-Term meeting in New Orleans in 2001; I deeply felt that the conference was very successful.

Through the conferences we could learn and communicate with each other, and also we could get acquainted with member friends whom we were familiar with but never met before.

During this conference fortunately I have had a chance to speak with Mr. Jan Stekelenburg the first vice-president of the WAD. We had archived a creative preparatory new idea, which was "working exchange". After the conference we communicated for several times via e-mail and finally we confirmed the time schedule in October 2001. The new jumping-off point established the good basis of cooperation and development for our future work.

Mr. Jan Stekelenburg and Mrs. Sylvia Stekelenburg arrived in Beijing, China on October 12th 2001, as scheduled for three weeks working visit exchange. The next day, Mr. Jan Stekelenburg and Mrs. Sylvia Stekelenburg began working in their new working environment. They immediately dived into the work. Every day we surrounded the table to talk about the investigation cases, which were on the process, discussing how to start the next procedure and also participating in on-the-spot investigation work to get the first hand information with our operators during investigation. We discussed and communicated at any moment, comparing the differences of investigation techniques and patterns between China and Western countries, and the case processed smoothly as we expected. Soon they were involved in the operation of Chinese company operation pattern and they were interested in Chinese operation, culture, humanism, and Chinese food. Every day they were full of curiosity.

Due to widely different culture background and political system, which lead to the different thinking and operation, in practical operation, we respectively introduced our operation mode, status, pattern and operational prospects. In China the investigation industry is a new industry. Most of the China citizens feel strange and sensitive about investigations. Hence, business investigation is intervenient between legal and consultation industry.

Steele is making great efforts to popularize the real meaning of business investigation for people and we will in term hold a small training communication meeting for enterprises.

Firstly, in most of the Western countries, investigator and detective are all-purpose. The investigation is an independently industry, however in China we cannot use this word --- detective --- in an investigative industry. We can use investigator. Detective is an appellation that conduct criminal spying and Public Security Bureau and Procurator take charge for reconnaissance and other organizations. Individuals have no reconnaissance rights. A reconnaissance must be processed according to law regulations and reconnaissance is the basis of the whole criminal procedure. So the basic cognition of investigation concept is the first difference of investigation industry between China and West.

Secondly, different national systems have different rules for the investigative industry. In Holland, the government accepts the investigative industry. There are special investigation law regulations for the private investigative industry.
In Europe, if an individual wants to be a private investigator, first he/she has to accept investigative or relevant specialty education to obtain a degree, then he/she submits an application to a relative enforcement for private investigator license, after the enforcement checking the specific background of the applicant he/she can get a private investigator license, which is authorized by the enforcement. Only an individual provided with above two conditions can conduct as a private investigator, however the verification procedure will be held again by the enforcement to check background of private investigators for replacing new licenses once every three years.

The authorization for private investigators in Europe is the same in China for lawyers, however, there hasn't set down homologous law regulations for the investigative industry. If a company or an individual wants to conduct an investigative business, the company or individual must go to the local industrial and commercial administration management bureau for business registration. He can start his business after he gets a business license. A business scope is also limited. The system is the second essential difference.

About the operation of an investigation case, Jan energetically took part in the operation and wanted to know how a Chinese investigative agency is dealing business. So we did detailed communication, analysis and comparison of investigation operation between China and Holland. Both of us were surprised about the complete differences of investigation operation, hence we got new knowledge about the investigation operation of each other. Also it made us understand international different operation skills in, for instance, an insurance claim. We will conduct a thoroughly investigation of the company through all kinds of aspects and resources and the investigation is divided into collecting information (including company registration information, company background, history, legal representative & shareholders info, company reputation, property and so on) and on-the-spot investigation (our operator will personally go to the company to check the actual info, take pictures and so on). Actually, the whole investigation is conducted quietly/secretly.

In Europe after accepting an assignment, the operator/private investigator can directly interview and investigate the object. The essential factor is Europe Law Regulations endowing that the private investigator has the right to investigate. So when a private investigator conducts a thoroughly investigation case, he/she needs to show the private investigator license to the object. The object can cooperate with him/her, but is not obliged to do so.

For this rare change we cherished each opportunity to learn and know each other, not only work experience, but also culture and customs. Jan and Sylvia felt good-natured and hospitable of Chinese people and they felt China is a country of vitality. China is to most of our foreign friends a very strange and faraway country. They also think China is very poor, uncultured, with no high technology and is still localized at primordial stage. We believe that Jan and Sylvia personally experienced the real China. Beijing, the capital of China, will bring an extraordinary fact with the competitive ability, along with China joined into WTO, and Beijing is the city for the Olympic games of 2008, we sincerely invite global friends to know China. Come to China, feel China; we believe that you will not despair in China. China is a huge potential market and is looking forward to creative people to join.

Working visit exchange, the basis of cooperation is a strategic pioneering work; we hope to know more about each other through this pioneering work, to become a real business globalization. A successful working visit exchange is the foundation of cooperation, let us to force international cooperation.

The three weeks visit past fast and we were reluctant to part with each other because we were harmonious. Jan and Sylvia were impressed with each colleague of our company as well as each colleague was impressed with Jan and Sylvia. They also got along really well with our three assistants, Linda, Lucille and Greece and they cooperated very well in the work. They laughed a lot when they stayed together. Sylvia said: "Mr. Hai Yang, if we stayed here for another month your three assistants would be Jan's assistants." Oh, it seems I will be out of work!