“Chinese People Have an Inner Need to Be Rich”

The biggest challenge in China’s bright economic future is the potential reform of its political system, said Jie Wu, president of RIFA Holding Group Company. “Although our leaders may not be the best economists in the world, that fact does not affect the Chinese people, who have an inner need to become rich,” Wu said through an interpreter during a panel at the Meeting Entrepreneurs From China conference, sponsored by the Chicago Asia Pacific Group, at Gleacher Center on April 11.

“We have a common understanding in China that if Chinese enterprise and business want to exceed the current ceiling, we have to have some kind of reform in our political system,” he said. “Enterprises in China will not be satisfied just being the factory of the world. Our ambition is emerging right now and you will see. If our political system is reformed and made better, the future of private enterprise in China is unlimited.”

Private business development in China has occurred in three stages neatly divided into 10-year periods over the last 30 years, said Xiafeng Zheng, chairman of Hangzhou Qiandaohu Brewery. The first stage, 1978-88, marked the beginning of China’s small private enterprises, Zheng said through an interpreter.

The second stage, 1988-98, marked large-scale economic development in the private sector and restructuring of large state-owned enterprises, he said. The third and current stage, 1998-2008, has delivered major growth in China’s private economy, Zheng said. “Cooperation with foreign enterprises on an international scale has become more and more common,” he said.

American and Chinese business have at least one trait in common — the economic acumen of their political leadership, said Scott Meadow, clinical professor of entrepreneurship and moderator of the panel. Nonetheless, Chinese enterprises have been able to attract an impressive group of firms in second-round venture capital development, Meadow said. “This shows a unique confidence in Chinese early stage projects that I have not seen in any other emerging entrepreneurial economies,” he said.

In its recruiting, Zhejiang Three Color Clothing Co., Ltd. seeks candidates with academic business training, experience, and potential, said Wujie Ding, general manager of the company. “It’s hard to combine the three qualities together,” Ding said through an interpreter. “If I have to choose one among these three, potential is the most important. Potential means you know your weaknesses and you are willing to learn from others to improve yourself.”

A successful candidate must understand the company’s culture first, Ding said. “I want him to recognize the core competence that is the value of our company,” he said. “If he does not agree with our culture, even if he his talented, he is not a talent our company is looking for.”

Bob Kakoliris, ’07, who is preparing to launch the Internet advertising service Ad Refinery, said the panel provided him a much-needed primer on doing business in China. “Before making any business transaction, I think there is an extreme importance to understanding how business is done there, the culture behind it, what drives it, and learning more about that,” Kakoliris said. “I certainly need to do my homework in that regard, if I ever plan on engaging any Chinese partners.”

—Phil Rockrohr