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COIN-OP NEWS AAMA group visits China Representatives from the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) spent 11 days in China in early December to expose coin-op product to the Chinese market and establish contact with government officials, according to AAMA executive director Bob Fay. The trip also served to educate the contingent on methods of conducting business in China. The AAMA group consisted of Fay; Dynamo 's Mark Struhs, chairman of AAMA's Foreign Business Development Committee; and Fabtek's Frank Ballouz, an AAMA board and FBDC member. They exhibited games at the Hotel Expo and met with government and business officials in Beijing and Shanghai. Fay reports that there's a dearth of modem coin-operated amusement games in China. In Shanghai they visited two Namco arcades, but such modern facilities are rare in China. "Several small entertainment or amusement centers exist in Beijing and Shanghai, but they contain very limited equipment, most of which is copies ," Fay said . Current duties were to have been reduced by 50 percent as of Jan. 1. "The Foreign Business Development CommitPLAY METER Standing with this Chinese operator, who has games along the Great Wall , are, !1-rl: Frank Ballouz, Bob Fay, Mark Struhs, and wife Jenny Struhs. -/ Bob Fay and Mark and Jenny Struhs in Tiananmen Square, with the ominous picture of Chairman Mao looming in the background. tee is the one with the most interest among AAMA members, " Fay said. "Certain things are going to happen in the United States that, as an industry, we might not have the financial resources to control, such as fiber-optics and violence in video games . The export market is a nice secondary market for our members to enhance their businesses , especially in Asia , where there 's capital available . Eastern Europe is a dead market. 12 "I think this first trip to China was extremely successful. We learned a lot , though there 's a heck of a lot more to learn. Business dealings can be a little confusing, what with the size of the country and the fact that you're dealing with a Communist government that's still going through reforms. This was a break-the-ice trip . We 'll be going back to Shanghai at the end of March for another Hotel Expo. About 14 AAMA-member companies have signed up for that so far." There are critics who condemn American companies for doing business with China because of the government's history of human rights violations. Fay says AAMA hasn't caught any flak for trying to do business in China. "There 's been enough of a commitment from people in the government to go forward with reforms," he said. "There are still hard-liners , but hopefully over the next year or so the reforms will increase and the abuses will decrease . China probably lost a chance to host the Olympics because of those abuses. They need to do something about it if they want to be accepted in the world community. But changes won't happen overnight; it'll take a while. The business that is being done is taking place in Hong Kong and Taiwan. "Another reason I think these internal problems will be corrected is that they need the United States as a trading partner. They have to convince the government that progress is being made ; otherwise they could lose most favored nation status. China used to have trade with North Korea and Russia, but that 's gone now . They really don 't have anyone left." Struhs shared Fay ' s FEBRUARY 1994