Two years ago, Qin Tang broke out of the typical Chinese business model and started a company. The Bellevue software developer, like many other immigrants from China, was trained to work for others, not for himself.

"A lot of people had the desire, but when they grew up, they were never taught how to start a business," he said.

Tang, 41, who has a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Washington, left Microsoft during the dot-com craze to start his company, UTC Consulting, which specializes in geographic information systems. From the outset, he struggled with basic questions, especially about how to raise capital.

Few in the Chinese community wanted to invest in Tang's start-up, and, as a result of language and cultural barriers, he didn't know whom to ask in the larger business community.

But Tang hopes a relatively new venture, the Chinese Business and Technology Association (CBTA), will guide others to easier success through greater entrepreneurial support.

Many in the Chinese business community say they've never had a regional organization that is culturally sensitive and that adequately promotes their interests.

The Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce is the only similar group, but its main focus has been mostly on businesses in the Chinatown International District.

Started with trade mission

The nonprofit CBTA grew from a trade mission to China that Tang and 16 other Greater Seattle-area businesspeople attended last September. After meeting trade delegates from California, where there is stronger support for Chinese businesses, several from the Seattle group decided to build a new community network.

Tang is the president of the organization, which has about 100 members throughout the Pacific Northwest. Many of them are immigrants from China, and a sizable number work in the technology industry.

Tang said the group has two main missions: to help local Chinese businesses and promote trade between China and Seattle. Trade missions are planned in May and June.

The group, open to anyone, has already held several networking and business-training events, including monthly seminars. Members are also in contact with officials in China, with the hopes of building closer relationships with them. Tang contends that even though China's political system remains Communist, business enterprise there is a very different story.

"Government officials realized the old (state-run) business system was not very efficient," he said.

Board member Jayme Liang, vice president of an online publishing company, said China's interest in business — coupled with the country's new membership in the World Trade Organization — will give outside companies unprecedented opportunities.

In the meantime, Liang is preparing to launch her own language school. "Many people don't understand how to help each other," she said, crediting the CBTA with providing valuable contacts and help she likely wouldn't have found on her own.

Building those business partnerships is scheduled to be a major focus of the group's seminar Saturday in Bellevue. The presentation will be in Chinese.

Surviving in a slump

Stanley Xu, a local real-estate investor and airplane-parts builder, is the scheduled featured speaker and is expected to talk about how he overcame the state's economic slump in the early 1990s to build a thriving company.

Xu, 42, is president of the Longwell Co., a real-estate management firm he founded in 1992, and Longwell Technology, a manufacturer for Boeing he acquired in 2000.

Xu said many Chinese professionals "are not good at finance, promotions and sales." Nevertheless, "if you want to be successful, you need to have a broad knowledge," he said. At the seminar, Xu plans to emphasize cooperation and encourage people to "be open to any resources available," including other people. "It's very important to have a team."

Xu, who has a Ph.D. in engineering from Oklahoma State University, said it's equally important to find a friendly industry. He explained he entered real estate because competition in engineering was too fierce and that, despite their education, most business owners face the same thing.

Tang says Xu demonstrates an open approach that other Chinese professionals need to follow.

Xu admitted the ideas he and the CBTA espouse may not be the easiest to accept or understand. But he thinks people will catch on to the approach.

After all, "the purpose of business is to make money," Xu said.

Eric Derr is a free-lance writer in the Seattle area.