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Foreigners in Hunan experience “China Speed”
Chinanews 2021年10月14日 15:33
Chinanews 2021年10月14日 15:33


Mario Pastore, Italian general manager of ChangSha XiMai Mechanical Construction Co., Ltd. [Photo/ Lu Yi]

Some people choose to settle in Hunan for its noted rail transportation; some for its favorable business environment; and some for its vitality and inclusiveness. In recent years, as Hunan, a central province of China, is increasingly integrated into the world, it also attracts global talents to study, work and live here. Through their first-hand experience in Hunan, they have not only strengthened understanding of the Chinese culture and lifestyle, but also witnessed the “China Speed”.

Rafiq Khan and his colleagues work in the assembly shop of Urban Rail Business Department, CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive CO., LTD. [Photo/ Liu Man]
Rafiq Khan and his colleagues work in the assembly shop of Urban Rail Business Department, CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive CO., LTD. [Photo/ Liu Man]

Italian executive: I’ve never experienced such work efficiency

Watching dragon boat races in the Dragon Boat Festival; appreciating the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival; making dumplings during the Spring Festival; Organizing company events in accordance with the Chinese zodiac calendar; helping poor families in remote mountain areas of Hunan with his Chinese friends... Mario Pastore, Italian general manager of ChangSha XiMai Mechanical Construction Co.,Ltd. (ChangSha XiMai), a company with an annual turnover of nearly 800,000,000 yuan, calls himself a “new Changsha local”. 。

In 2007, ChangSha XiMai led by Mario settled in Changsha, hence becoming one of the first foreign-invested enterprises in Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone, mainly engaged in the development and production of automobile internal combustion engine components and transmissions. “This gives me the opportunity to experience the thoughtful and warm services from Changsha government departments, and to witness the ‘China Speed’,” said Mario.

Mario worked in Shanghai for several years before coming to Changsha. In early 2007, CMD and Marval (Italian companies) hoped to invest in China and then found him. Although Mario first considered settling in some coastal cities, he finally chose Changsha.

“The cost of building a factory in Changsha was lower, which could attract a large number of mature and stable labor force. Changsha also provided very preferential policies for investment and specific plans for industrial development,” said Mario.

It took only about half a year, with the help from the Changsha government departments, to pick the location, get a business license, set up all the equipment from across the sea, and recruit workers. “For enterprises, time is money. Such working efficiency was unprecedented in my career, which also strengthened our parent companies’ confidence in investing in Changsha,” said Mario.

Along with the rapid development of China, ChangSha XiMai has also grown rapidly from a team of a bit more than 20 people to over 400 people now, and the enterprise turnover has also increased nearly 20 times. “Extraordinary speed!” said Mario.

Mario appreciates and respects Chinese culture, which can be seen from the name of the company — XiMai, a “very Chinese name” in Mario’s words. In his opinion, Chinese culture has a long origin. Sharing the same cultural background, Chinese employees are very good at working together towards the same goal. The application of Chinese culture to management has also brought a lot of benefits to his company.

Mario said that Chinese team spirit and rule consciousness were fully reflected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the outbreak in early 2020, XiMai fully recovered its production capacity in April or May. Thanks to the effective epidemic prevention and control measures in China, XiMai managed to ensure the factory supply chain and stable development.

At the beginning, XiMai’s raw materials were completely imported, but now 99% of the raw materials are produced in China. XiMai’s products used to be 100% exported, but now Chinese market sales weigh just as much as that of overseas market. Chinese enterprises including Saic Fiat Powertrain Hongyan Co., Ltd. (SFH) and SANY have become XiMai’s customers. In Mario's opinion, XiMai is completely a “made-in-China” company.

With his busy schedule, Mario, who is nearly 70, returns home in Italy almost once every two years. But Changsha has already assured him with a sense of home. On March 29, 2018, Mario obtained the permanent residence permit and became an official resident of Changsha.

After work, Mario likes to appreciate the scenery of Hunan on his bike. He has left his footprints in famous scenic spots such as Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang Ancient Town, as well as the old streets and alleys in Changsha. In Mario’s paintings, the pile dwellings in western Hunan, the old roads paved with rough limestone and the smile of young people are the most beautiful scenery of Hunan in his memory.

Hans Georg Ackermann (center), German expert, visits Yuelu Academy. [Photo provided to CNS]
Hans Georg Ackermann (center), German expert, visits Yuelu Academy. [Photo provided to CNS]

Pakistani engineer: Technology updates excitingly fast!

With thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a Roman nose, it’s hard not to notice Rafiq Khan from Pakistan from a group of Chinese employees, whose fluent Mandarin and even Hunan dialect helped a lot with his job in the Urban Rail Business department of CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd.

It is the daily work of Rafiq Khan, an electrical engineer, to arrange the locomotive parts according to the design drawings, guide the installation in the workshop, and assist in the final production of the locomotive. “It seems to be repetitive work day after day, but you can never guess what will appear on tomorrow's design drawings. The technology updates too fast in here,” said Rafiq, who confessed his love for this “stimulation”. “This is also the unique charm of the city where I work, which is known as the ‘capital of electric locomotives in China’.”

Rafiq Khan was born in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan in 1989. When he was young, he knew that Pakistan and China were friends, and he was especially a fan of Bruce Lee movies. When his brothers and sisters chose to study in France, Italy and other European or American countries, Rafiq Khan decided to take a look at China.

From 2010 to 2017, Rafiq Khan earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern Polytechnical University and Xi'an Jiaotong University respectively in China, both majoring in electrical engineering.

When Rafiq was about to graduate from Xi'an Jiaotong University, he went to campus recruitment like many Chinese students, and successfully passed the interviews with companies such as ZTE and Huawei. But as soon as Rafiq Khan found the booth of CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive, he gave up the job opportunities in other first-tier cities, and made up his mind to work in the city of Zhuzhou, Hunan. “Pakistan's transportation infrastructure is relatively outdated. The advanced rail transit technology and sophisticated management system here are exactly what we need,” Rafiq Khan added.

Boasting Maglev, super capacitor, IGBT chip and more, Zhuzhou is the birthplace of many records such as “China's first AC drive electric locomotive” and “the world's most powerful electric locomotive”, and has presented a number of world-class innovative achievements.

In October 2020, the Pakistan Lahore Orange Line Project, the first rail transit project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the framework of BRI, was officially open for operation. The project marked that a whole industrial chain of China's urban subway — from design, manufacturing, construction to operation and maintenance — was exported for the first time.

“The subway train of the Pakistan Lahore Orange Line Project is from our company. It plays a huge role in urban traffic and transportation. Many people can benefit from it. It is the Belt and Road initiative that helped Pakistan bid farewell to the history of no subway,” Khan added that China has become an emerging power in the global rail transit industry, and has been sharing high-quality achievements with the world through the initiative.

Over the years, Rafiq Khan has participated in many projects such as Nanning Metro Line 3 and Kunming Changshui Tram, and witnessed the continuously updated CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive going global. For the time being, the electric locomotives, intercity EMUs, urban rail vehicles and rail transit equipment derivative products produced by CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive have been exported to more than 20 countries and regions including Turkey, Malaysia and Mexico.

As a witness of the rapid development of technology in the rail transit industry, Rafiq has personally experienced the rapid changes in China's economy and society. This unimaginable rate of development made him both amazed and inspired. “When I first came to China, There were no subway in many cities. Now subways and high-speed rails have become the most common and fastest way for everyone to travel. 5G and other technologies are also developing at an amazing speed in China, together with rail transit and other industries, they are constantly pushing forward industry innovation,” said Rafiq.

Rafiq Khan has now fallen in love with Hunan and Hunan cuisine. “I gained my experience and grew strong in China. The Belt and Road initiative has brought many opportunities to me and my homeland, and more and more young Pakistanis choose to start their own businesses in China,” said Rafiq Khan. In the future, he hopes to participate more in the company’s cooperation projects with Pakistan, so as to help boost a faster development in his homeland’s rail transit industry.

View of Changsha at night. [Photo/ Kou Shanqin]
View of Changsha at night. [Photo/ Kou Shanqin]

German business consultant: Ready to bridge the foreign investment in China

“China is now more and more connected with the world, with a wide range of international flights available in many Chinese cities. For example, Changsha airport has more than 40 international and regional flights,” said Hans Georg Ackermann from Bavaria, Germany.

Hans Georg Ackermann, 73, the former president of Siemens Greater China, is now a business consultant for the Management Committee of the Changsha High-tech Industrial Development Zone and Changsha Municipal People's Government, and has worked and lived in Changsha (capital city of Hunan, China) for 15 years.

Ackermann boasts strong global business networking and working experience in a Fortune 500 company. As soon as he took office, Ackermann proposed to establish an international business platform, as a bridge between Changsha and foreign enterprises and government departments, and to promote business exchanges and cooperation of technology between Changsha and the world.

“There is a proverb in my hometown: To dance, you need a dance floor. A country or city needs a 'dance floor' as the attraction for you to stay,” said Ackermann. He believes that only when more and more foreign companies and institutions come to China will the city accelerate its internationalization.

Since Changsha International Science and Technology Business Platform was put into use in 2015, it has attracted dozens of representative offices, chambers of commerce and associations from countries including Japan, South Korea, Russia, Israel, India, Sweden, Malaysia, Thailand, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, as well as regions including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; completed over 800 receptions or consultations both at home and abroad; organized or participated in more than 30 overseas business trips; and helped more than 100 Chinese enterprises to go global.

“The platform has become an important channel to attract foreign investment, to solve the language and communication problems for foreign enterprises and personnel to invest and work in Changsha, and provide strong assurance,” said Ackermann, who did not only play a big part in preparing and establishing the platform, but also helped introduce foreign enterprises to visit and invest in China.

“China is my second home, and I plan to mobilize some foreigners in other Chinese cities to also set up international business platforms, so as to help the opening-up and internationalization of China,” said Ackermann, who has changed the permanent residence on his passport to “Changsha, China”. He is also promoting the German dual education system in China, training skilled workers who can better adapt to Industry 4.0, and contributing to the improvement of China's industrial quality and industrial transformation and upgrading.

The active and open economy makes Changsha an “international city”. According to the statistics of Changsha Municipal Bureau of Commerce, as of March this year, there were 1,110 foreign invested enterprises in Changsha, up 26.4% year on year; 173 Fortune Global 500 enterprises have settled in Changsha, including 99 from overseas.

【Editor:gao】