Q: What is TOCN, and how did you decide to start this business?
SR: We met during an exchange program at Tecnológico de Monterrey in 2018. We both already had a background in learning Chinese and enjoyed the language and culture. After returning to Mexico, we both wanted to go back. By coincidence, we chose the same master’s program, so we reunited in China.
During the master’s program, we started receiving requests from friends and family in Mexico who needed support with business-related issues in China. We started helping independently, and soon realized we were doing similar things, so we decided to join forces. Before that, even though I loved China, I planned to return to Mexico after my studies to continue doing business with China, not to stay indefinitely. What began as a side job during our studies turned into the company we have today.
Q: What primary factors or barriers faced by Mexican SMEs made both of you decide to launch TOCN as a direct presence in China?
FL: The reason it grew so quickly was exponential growth fueled by a real necessity from part of businesses in Latin America that conduct international trade, heavily influenced by COVID-19 in 2020. We were among the first Mexicans to return after the initial closing. During three years, China completely shut its doors; most Latin American businesses that were established here had to return home, diminishing trade significantly, and all those established contact points disappeared.
This allowed us to identify the need for a trusted representation here in China. We were primarily contacted because we are trustworthy Mexicans who are physically present and speak both Spanish and Chinese, which immediately solved the major barriers of language, culture, and trust.
As we formalized our operations, we realized we did not want to be just brokers. This became one of our main differentiators. A broker is limited to commercial support, coordination, supplier search, and basic logistics. We chose to go further to act as a formal representation of foreign companies directly here in China.
We are a formally constituted company in China, and aside from offering typical commercial services, we are a team that can literally serve as an extension of a company’s office. We handle banking, negotiations, and introduce ourselves as your official team in China. This was the biggest need we identified among large Latin American companies doing business with China, and so far, we have not found anyone else providing this service in the same comprehensive way.
Q: What is the profile of the ideal Mexican client who gains the maximum benefit from using TOCN’s services?
SR: We have segments for our clients. The China 101s are basically those who are just starting and have never done business with China; their maximum exposure might be platforms like Temu or AliExpress. Next are the Business Masters. These are SMEs that are already purchasing from China. They may not have visited China, but they are already involved, perhaps buying goods in tonnage within Mexico. They are generally more familiar with the business processes. Finally, the Senseis are basically those who already buy substantial volumes from China. They are medium to medium-large companies whose volume of operations requires a permanent local presence to act as their team.
FL: A company that was a Sensei in its early days was Coppel, which now has its own office with around 30 dedicated buyers managing all their Asian suppliers. The time, learning curve, and investment required for Coppel to reach this level were substantial.
Our goal is to provide a soft landing, helping companies gradually reach Coppel’s level with a much lower initial investment. We help them expand without the severe financial and legal risks of entering a new country. We train their teams and help them understand the market.
We are mostly focused on Sensei companies and are developing solutions for the Business Masters. We plan to eventually further support the China 101s by educating this curious, digital, and younger market.
It is a misconception that doing business with China is necessarily easy. It is achievable, but it can be extremely costly if done incorrectly. Marketing narratives often exaggerate success stories, talking about buying containers without mentioning essential requirements like having an import registry or properly verifying suppliers.
Q: What were the main challenges faced when launching TOCN, and what skillset or tools were most critical in turning the idea into an operational reality?
SR: Early on, we encountered issues that, in retrospect, we could have optimized better. I believe our main struggle was assuming Chinese laws and regulations would be similar to Mexico’s. It is crucial to rely on experts here, such as specialized Chinese accountants and lawyers. We also quickly recognized the need for a team member who speaks both Spanish and Chinese. Initially, we hired a Chinese team member who spoke neither English nor Spanish. Although we both speak advanced Chinese, incorporating a native Chinese speaker who also speaks Spanish has been tremendously helpful.
Our main struggles have all been related to administrative and legal compliance. We constantly have to find the Chinese equivalent for every process. The difficulty is compounded by the Chinese tendency to downplay complexity, often saying, “It is easy, do not worry; come back tomorrow.” You want to know the next steps, but they will only tell you, “Do not worry, I will tell you tomorrow.” You return the next day, and then they might say, “You have one week to do this, or you will be expelled from China.” This is literally a real-life scenario we have encountered. This is what we have truly struggled with.
FL: The locals are, without a doubt, the best allies in these cases. No matter how much research one conducts, the reality on the ground is often insufficient for the demands of opening a business here. The initial setup is relatively simple, as it mostly involves following bureaucracy and paperwork. However, the operation itself is a different level of complexity, requiring deep knowledge of fiscal and legal regulations.
These issues often only emerge when practical questions arise, leading to unexpected requirements, such as needing a specific certification to conduct certain activities or realizing you cannot issue an invoice without a particular business seal required in China. Having local support is essential. Our greatest asset has been language proficiency.
Q: What are the most common misconceptions Mexican or Latin American entrepreneurs have when initiating contact with China as a business destination?
FL: There are two groups of people in Mexico: those who have had exposure to China, and the vast majority who have not. This divide is largely due to China’s control over its media and the fact that Latin America remains heavily oriented toward the United States, meaning the information received is often Westernized.
Consequently, many who lack exposure still imagine China as undeveloped, unsophisticated, or noisy. They are far gazed from the modern reality of today’s great metropolises, innovation, and technology. It is difficult to fully grasp China’s development without experiencing it firsthand. This holistic development is the result of meticulous, government-led planning that has penetrated every sector, from education and planned cities to payments and transport.
SR: There is also the conception that buying from China is simply cheaper. While it is true that buying directly from China is cheaper than buying the same item marked up in Mexico, the real benefit of China goes beyond low price. For the same product, you can find a vast range of qualities, from the tip’s thickness to the plastic’s material. China’s true strength is its 50-year history as the World’s Factory. No other factory can match the efficiency and expertise in manufacturing almost any product quickly.
FL: Additionally, China possesses the raw materials, offering a complete supply chain within the country. This gives businesses the capacity to customize or create new products entirely by working directly with factories. In Mexico, we are often accustomed to simply buying stock inventory. Chinese factories, however, are geared toward customization, asking detailed questions about size, color, and functionality.
A final misconception is that very little investment is required to do business with China. This is not necessarily true. For a purchase from a Chinese supplier to yield a good margin, we recommend an estimated purchase volume of around US$10,000 in merchandise. This takes into account the costs of the export process, logistics providers, customs agents, and transport within Mexico.
Q: Mexican and Latin American culture emphasizes personal trust and building relationships. What cultural features make these business relationships in China more fluid and resilient compared to the direct, transaction-first approach typical of countries like the United States?
SR: Cultural similarity plays a significant role. This familiarity helps us connect better than we might with someone from, for instance, a Nordic country, where there is less in common. We have had clients who were invited to karaoke at a supplier’s home, not just a public establishment, demonstrating how thin the barrier is between business and personal life.
The concept of Guanxi, which is essentially building personal relationships, is very important here. In China, forming a relationship before or alongside the business is crucial. If you do not nurture the relationship with your supplier or partner, it is unlikely to be long-term, and you will not receive preferential treatment. This is similar to a cultural element we share in Latin America: the better the relationship, the better the terms, prices, and treatment you receive.
FL: I find China to be a warm and welcoming country. Sometimes the language barrier makes Chinese people seem less approachable; they may speak loudly, leading us to mistakenly believe they are shouting, but they are very similar to Latinos in their warmth. They are very welcoming. I cannot imagine getting this same kind of treatment from Europeans.
The Chinese also show great curiosity because the country is still relatively closed. They are eager to learn about Mexico and Latin America, which they view as a distant region. They deeply appreciate when people travel all the way to China, and they view this effort very positively for business development.
Q: For a Mexican company seeking long-term growth in China, which market entry model offers the best balance of market control and risk mitigation?
SR: There are two primary ways to conduct business with China. One is the traditional method of moving goods from China to Mexico. The other is moving goods, investments, or even Chinese operations to Mexico. The latter method is increasingly popular due to nearshoring. Chinese companies are setting up operations in Mexico because USMCA facilitates business and helps avoid high tariffs that might be imposed on direct exports from China. The resulting entity becomes a Mexican company.
For the China-to-Mexico product movement process, the most common, it is essential to have a local partner in China to guide the process. What kind of partner you need depends on your goal. You could use a broker if your objective is simply to purchase a specific item, and you are willing to pay a commission for them to manage the entire sourcing and delivery process to your door. Our model is different: we charge a service fee, not a commission, for the value we add through comprehensive accompaniment, not just product sourcing.
The complexity of our service goes beyond standard brokerage. For example, we had a client who discovered their current supplier was unresponsive. They hired us to manage the problem. We worked with Chinese lawyers to draft a warning letter to the supplier demanding the return of funds. A typical broker would not handle such a legal issue unless they sourced the supplier themselves.
We surround ourselves with different specializations. We also manage complex administrative tasks, like securing a visa for a Chinese technician to travel to Guatemala for our client. The client hires us for comprehensive support for anything they need done in China, in the Chinese time zone and language, not just buying and selling.
FL: The process depends on the type of business you are conducting with China. For the typical scenario of buying and exporting Chinese products to Mexico, you need allies in logistics in China and Mexico.
The allies in China ensure transparency and follow up with suppliers. Another critical factor is payment methods: how payments will be made, under what terms, using which platform, and what the payment schedule will be. Finally, you need infrastructure in Mexico. Do you have a customs agent? How will you manage the importation? We handle the entire Chinese side, but you need your own specialized partners in Mexico to ensure the product enters the country efficiently without being consumed by tariffs. Or we also have our own partners in Mexico in the case that the client’s company does not have them yet.
Q: What about those companies looking to enter the Chinese market and not just supplying from China?
FL: This is a massive opportunity due to China’s large capacity for consumption and population. Many companies want to enter, but the required investment is significant. Companies must first check the protocols and certifications necessary for export, particularly for fresh products. Once the product is approved for export, they must establish the correct distribution channels and, crucially, a local marketing team in China that knows how to promote the product on Chinese platforms.
Selling in China is entirely digital. Purchases are increasingly made through local platforms like Pinduoduo, Taobao, WeChat, and Douyin (TikTok). To sell effectively, a physical team is required here to understand how the local market operates. This requires a much higher initial investment.
SR: The key is knowing what to sell. You cannot come to China to sell products that they already manufacture. You need to sell something difficult for them to produce or something they do not yet know. For example, China once imported a large volume of avocados from Mexico, but when demand became immense, they realized Mexican producers could not supply the necessary volume. China then started growing its own avocados; the avocados purchased here now are mostly Chinese.
Mezcal is currently a popular export product that Mexicans are trying to introduce. It is a slow process because it is a novelty here; you might need to send a container just for samples and events to slowly build awareness. This is why the investment needed to introduce a product into China must be carefully considered.
Q: Given the protectionist stance from the United States, what opportunities could be unlocked in the Mexico-China relationship? What is the role you would like to play in taking these opportunities to reality?
SR: One unit we are significantly strengthening is nearshoring. We have been establishing the foundation this year, aiming to fully launch the Nearshoring Unit in 2026. Since early this year, we have seen interest from both sides: industrial parks and officials from Mexico’s Ministry of Economy have reached out, and here in China, consultants have recognized our unique value as Mexicans who are physically present here and speak the language. This dual proficiency gives Chinese companies greater confidence, as they are often hesitant to work with Mexican consultants they do not know and who do not speak Chinese.
We have been paving the way for the past six months to organize a commercial mission of Chinese companies interested in exploring and setting up operations in Mexico by April 2026.
FL: Some suggest nearshoring is over, but that is inaccurate; that was only the first wave. The first wave involved large global Chinese companies that are now established. However, there is a second segment of Chinese companies, including those listed on the Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Shenzhen stock exchanges, that have the investment capital for expansion but lacked the necessary allies initially. This new segment is looking to move to Mexico, not just to manufacture for the United States and Canadian markets, as the first wave did, but also to access the local Mexican and Latin American markets.
Our three main business goals are to maintain and strengthen our core TOCN services, aggressively pursue nearshoring as our major strategic focus for 2026, and organize corporate travels. These trips target both Chinese investors exploring Mexico and Mexican and Latin American business owners who need to experience and understand the Chinese market firsthand, offering the next generation of potential large importers crucial guidance.
Tu Oficina en China (TOCN) is a Mexican consulting firm based in China. It acts as a bridge for Latin American SMEs looking to access the Chinese market and supply chain. Their core services include corporate travel, urgent tasks, supplier search and price benchmarking, logistics, and quality assurance.