The history of Authense China began in 1997 with its predecssor, Apex Consulting. Apex's initial focus was on management consulting and high-level recruiting, primarily for American Fortune 500 companies in China. As its client base grew and it gained trans-industry experience, it refocused on sales and marketing.

An interesting pattern began to emerge. With some notable exceptions, most of the foreign brand entrants into China were premium or super-premium class. Furthermore, there were entire product classes and industries with no foreign participation at all. In many cases, the only foreign brands available were 'pulled' in small quatities at the retailer or wholesaler level, and not 'pushed' by the manufacture at a distributor or parter level.

Analyzing this trend more deeply, Apex found that many foreign manufacturers were in an excellent position to expand into China. However, this class of firm often lacked detaild knowledge of the size and potential of the local market, was afraid of the unknown, or were frighted off by what amounted to urban myths. In other words, the main culprit was simple ignorance.

It was at this point, in mid-2002, that Apex decided to specialize entirely in helping those in this specific category. We adopted the name 'Authense China' because what we bring AUTHentic sENSE to our clients. We brought in a wide range of new consultants and specialists, both Chinese and American. We now exclusively help small- and mid-sized western brands successfully enter China. To this end we use the vast network of industry contacts, consultants, and professional service providers that we have built over our successful 6 year history.