The project is real. The capital is real. China is the missing piece.
Two years of cold outreach will burn time you don’t have. A consulting firm will produce a PowerPoint and no warm introductions. If you choose the wrong partner because nobody on your team can tell the difference, the whole thing fails.
The era when Western capital plus a passport equaled access is over. The relationships are closing. The insiders are consolidating. Without a human bridge, your project stalls — or dies.
This is not a youth tour scaled up. It is the beachhead product for principals who need the keyholder, not another deck.
What you walk away with
Keys and judgment — 26 years of relationships compressed into one week:
- A living network intro list — factory owners, logistics contacts, quality inspectors added to your WeChat. Not names forwarded in an email. Warm introductions from someone who has earned the right since 2000
- A whiteboard strategy session — Steven looks at your China-shaped problem and says “here’s what you’re missing.” Specific. Actionable. Built on 26 years of watching deals succeed and fail
- Persistent post-trip access — the week doesn’t end at the airport. The introductions keep coming. The group stays active. You have Steven’s number
Steven — full 8 days
This is the only product where Steven Ducat is present for the full duration. Every other tier is guide-led with Steven appearances. Here, the product is the keyholder.
- First factory Xiaoshan 2000 — ladies’ garments, WOFE, shipping to Europe
- SPD Energy — 70,000 m² clean-energy facility, 600 employees, shipping to 30 countries
- Chief Global Advisor, CERS — shaping national zero-carbon industrial park standards
- Chief Global Advisor, CNECC — sits in rooms where policy gets written
- Chinese name 杜浚平 — on factory floors he is 杜总. Peer, not visitor. The owner answers his personal WeChat
When Steven makes a call, it’s not a cold introduction. It’s someone who has been on the floor since 2000 — and who carried the same employees through three industries.
Full story: About →
Why this, not anything else
| They already know | What they still lack |
|---|---|
| China is not optional for the project | Trust, floors, partners, judgment |
| Trade missions and consulting exist | An operator who has built here since 2000 |
A consulting firm delivers a deck. A trade mission delivers handshakes and a photo. This delivers a keyholder who stays in your network after the flight home.
The fee is small next to
Two years of false starts. A $50,000 consulting engagement that produces a deck and no introductions. The cost of getting China wrong on a major initiative. Against that, $38,888 is a rounding error if it opens the right door or prevents the wrong partner.
At the end, you don’t get a tour guide. You get a keyholder. You have Steven’s number.
Pricing
| Early Bird | Standard |
|---|---|
| $38,888 | $58,888 |
Early Bird: first 5 paid seats per CU departure. Full pricing → · Terms →