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Saturday June 27, 2009

Pot of gold now in China

Shanghai Bund by CHOW HOW BAN


IN DAYS of yore the Chinese went west for gold. Today, the West is looking to China in search of greener pastures.

Over the past 10 years, Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder of China Rich List and, later, Hurun Report had been recording this reverse in trend.

“I first came to China in 1990 as a student of Chinese and spent a year in Beijing,” the Luxembourg-born Briton said in an interview. “Then I came back to work with an accounting firm from 1997 to 1999.

“There were so many changes – people’s clothes were changing and the buildings were changing.

“I was sort of trying to work out who were behind it, and if I could do so, the stories of these people would be so much the story of modern China.”

Hence, the Rich List was created. The number on the list in 1999 was 50, and has since grown to 1,000.

When Hoogewerf, fondly known by his Chinese name Hurun, started to compile the list, he enlisted the help of two first-year university students for the research work.

Over the past decade, Hurun Report has developed more lists and specific themes – top philanthropists, properties, brands, trend setters and, most recently, corporate social responsibility enterprises.

Hurun Report is a must read in China if one wants to know about China’s richest individuals.

Hoogewerf described China as an interesting place to be in, especially when more people were gaining wealth, and the business environment was becoming more conducive.

“The first generation of Chinese entrepreneurs were beneficiaries of the open-door policy,” he recalled.

“They started their companies in 1993, and there were lots of opportunities, driven by the central government.”

Hoogewerf said those who were canny, creative and ruthless in seizing the opportunities made it.

“Chinese society evolved very quickly and now you see more philanthropists,” he said. “After the Sichuan earthquake last year, you got this huge amount of pressure on people with social position to publicly give.”

However, he noted, the second and third generation of rich in the West had shown they were a bad influence. But, it is still too early to tell whether the rising aristocrats in China will also flaunt their wealth.

To London-born Sahr Johnny, China is a great place for entrepreneurs, especially those who are comfortable with the Chinese language.

In 1993, Johnny moved to Hong Kong to teach English in the nearby city of Zhuhai in Guangdong province when he could not secure a job back home as Europe was in recession.

Knowing that proficiency in Chinese is a must to succeed in China, he brushed up on the language at a university in Beijing in 2004 to prepare for a career in the country.

Johnny had since worked for McCann Erickson in Hong Kong and Shanghai before setting up his own Internet business.

“In a sense, I watched China’s economic opening take shape in the early 90s in Zhuhai and Shenzen,” he reminisced.

“I think China will continue to be an amazing growth success story, and its rich and diverse culture will continue to be a magnet for people around the world.”

Johnny plans to settle in China to witness more of the monumental change it has been going through since the Communist Party took over the leadership in 1949.

“I had no doubt in my mind that China offered me more opportunities for success than anywhere else. I always felt there were – and still are – plenty of opportunities for those with the insights and perseverance to go after them,” he said.

“I think my future is in China. I’m comfortable here in terms of lifestyle and career. Speaking both Cantonese and Mandarin helps a lot, of course.

“It also helps if you love the people and culture and believe in – and recognise – the achievements of the leadership here.”

Over the past two decades, there had been a sharp increase in the number of people from Hong Kong and Taiwan – and foreigners, too – coming to Shanghai to study, work and do business.

More often than not, the foreigners take up Chinese lessons to better communicate with their colleagues and the locals.

As of 2007, the city had 133,340 foreigners mostly from Japan, America, South Korea and Singapore. More than 13,000 were pursuing studies, many among them looking towards a permanent career in the city.

A French student who did not want to be named told me that she felt at home in Shanghai after having studyied Chinese at Shanghai Jiaotong University for two years now.

“As I have been investing a lot of my time in studying Chinese and enjoying my life here in Shanghai, I plan to work and stay here for awhile,” said the woman, who now works part-time as a sales promoter to practise her Mandarin.

“I see a very bright future for China, which is full of opportunities, and the experience you can get from it is huge. You learn more, and faster. I do think I have a future here as I have just been hired.”

However, there’s one prerequisite: fluency in Chinese.

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