« Business development » is used for everything from a market study to a full sales operation. Between France and China it usually means one of four concrete activities, and they are rarely bought as a package.
The four activities
- Market entry structuring. Deciding the route in: channel, structure, sequence, and what has to be true before each step.
- Partner and distributor search. Identifying candidates and — the longer half — qualifying them properly before anyone signs.
- Commercial representation. Acting on the ground between the client's visits: meetings, follow-up, reporting, problem-solving.
- Execution support. Making the things the strategy assumed would exist — a credible presence, localised material, a working contact path.
Why the direction matters
Helping a French company enter China and helping a Chinese company enter Europe are not the same work reversed. The buyers evaluate differently, the regulations sit in different places, and the language of credibility is different. A provider who claims both directions should be able to tell you who does which.
A useful test: ask what the deliverable is. If the answer is a document, you are buying analysis. If it is a meeting, a qualified supplier or a working page, you are buying execution. Both are legitimate — but they are not interchangeable.