...Chinese and can speak the language. This skill set includes knowing the subtleties of body language, knowing who knows who and who can get work done. The middleman or broker gives you the feeling that all is good and safe.

After being part of hundreds of deals here in China over the years and hearing firsthand accounts from trusted colleagues, what fascinates me is how much the Hong Kong broker, middleman and partners do not know about doing business in China. It’s not that they are trying to purposely deceive their Western client/partners; it’s that they are selling their inside knowledge of a China they once knew but that no longer exists.

It’s not their fault their cheese was moved, but it was.

The mainland Chinese industry professional today speaks English and takes risks in order to try something new. Today’s China opens its arms to innovation. It is always looking out for the next new thing.

The old command-and-control systems are giving way to a more Western approach to how work gets done, so that a person used to the old style of cronyism, closed-door deals and payoffs is getting lost in today’s way of doing business.

Avoid Misguided Advice

The old Hong Kong broker, middleman or partner can misguide his or her client and partners, not on purpose but by being irrelevant.

Does this mean that cronyism, closed-door deals and payoffs don’t exist? Of course they do.

The key is to understand that there is a construction and engineering industry momentum shift under way.

The old, controlled processes are opening up through new forms of mobile technologies in the field, transparent data viewable through multi-enterprise workflows and a new spirit of openness that yields results measured by speed, quality, profit and power. One example of this change can be seen in outsourced facility management services.

Property management is the only recognized profession in the maintenance and management of real estate in China. A number of organizations operate facility-management services under the property-management umbrella, creating opportunities to provide sorely needed facility-management services for the growing number of buildings throughout China.

Well-established Western real estate service organizations have set up outsourced facility-management services and operations groups in China under the umbrellas of real estate brokerage and advisory services. They are quickly filling the gap in a fast-growing market. Many Chinese property-management and developer organizations quickly hired these outsourced facility-management groups.

Since most of these Western real estate services organizations head their operations from either Europe or...