Gui Shengyue, chief executive officer of Geely Automobile Holdings, says learning the world's latest technology through mergers and acquisitions is key to keeping Geely's continued growth. [Parker Zheng / China Daily] Most people won't dispute it's the courage and aspirations of founder Li Shufu that have helped shape the group's growth, while paying scant attention to the rigor and pragmatism of Gui Shengyue. Gui was named chief executive officer of Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile Holdings in 2006 after having been tapped by Li in the 1990s well before Geely ventured into the auto industry. Li and Gui, who are of the same age and natives of Zhejiang province in eastern China, struck up a solid relationship despite their different backgrounds. Li had started from scratch, while Gui was recommended by Beijing to work in State-owned China Resources (Holdings) Company in Hong Kong. Gui reckons it's China Resources' standardized management and regulations that have shaped his business philosophy. Discipline and legality are important in such a large corporation. This has influenced me a lot and made me more practical. He was a key witness to Geely's Automobile's development over the years, purchasing spare parts for the group and feeding it with global market information from Hong Kong. After having worked in Hong Kong for years, Gui has grown accustomed to the local business environment. I came to Hong Kong just after graduating from university in 1986. It enabled me to get some understanding of business rivalry in a regulated market in my early years, says Gui. Geely grew rapidly and became one of China's top 500 enterprises in 2002. Its speedy expansion had put pressure on the company's cash flow because of its huge sales target and high production investment. This accelerated Geely's desire to seek opportunities by going public. With Gui's help in building the company's structure, Geely was successfully listed on Hong Kong's stock market through a back-door listing in 2005. The initial public offering eased Geely's capital pressure and created the path for it to climb onto the world arena. Having been appointed to the helm of the Hong Kong unit, Gui believes a successful leader has to be good at controlling the whole situation and capable of making critical decisions. Although critical decisions may involve risks, a leader has to conquer them, and adopting a conservative approach won't bring the results, he says. Thus, I believe, to a certain extent, all the M&As are linked to the existence of our listed company here in Hong Kong. We may not play a critical role but we do have some impact for sure. Geely's shares had been on a roll since the unit's flotation in Hong Kong and the company becoming a constituent of the Hang Seng Index early last year, ending 2017 with its share price tripled. personalised silicone wristbandswristbands onlinecustom rubber bandsmotivational wristbands for athletes24 hour wristbands coupon code24 wristbandsrubber wristbands
TIANJIN - It was Wang Run's first time to board a bullet train as the boy from rural area was going to one of China's biggest metropolitan Tianjin to play draughts at the country's 13th National Games. Seven months ago, Wang, 13, was only an ordinary pupil in the remote Yingshang County in East China's Anhui province. His parents are migrant workers who work in the city. Left behind at home with his grandparents, he has never traveled by plane or train. "Draughts has changed the young man's life," says coach Shi Zhengbin, who brought four left-behind children, including Wang, to the Tianjin tournament. Shi began to play draughts in 2007 when China's sport authority began to promote the sport. He ranked the sixth and eighth in the first two national intelligence competitions. However, feeling "too old for the competition", Shi retired but always regrets never taking a national title. He decided to pin his dream on young players and began to promote the sport among students in his home province Anhui. He gave up a well-paid job in the developed Guangdong province, south China, and moved to impoverished Yingshang County, where local education authority hopes to teach students to play draughts but has a shortage of coaches. Yingshang is home to thousands of left-behind children. Local government hopes by playing draughts, these children feel less lonely and have more fun after school. Shi began his coaching in Tianchi Primary School. There are 1,300 students in the school. He soon found that these left-behind students had few after-class activities while he was also impressed by their diligence and persistence. "I give them training sessions at noon and in the evening. The sessions last for four and a half hours a day, but nobody will complain," he says. "I see their passion and potential for draughts," Shi adds. The training less than five months took effect. Four students of Shi entered the final round after the preliminaries of China's National Games in May. "The result once again shows the great potential of these children. All they need is opportunities," Shi says. To prepare the four young players for the national games, Shi decided to take them to some competitions across the country as warming up. With the help of Yingshang government and the children's parents, Shi took more than 40 draughts players outside Anhui Province. Wang Run even snatched a national title in the U14 competition. But Shi didn't expect too much in the Tianjin tournament. "My students are too young. I don't want to give them pressure. I just want to show them what the country's biggest games is like," he explains. "Their opponents are much older and more experienced, so I didn't set impractical goals for them," Shi says. Instead he told his players that having two draws or one victory in all nine rounds would be satisfying enough. But the four young players came out beyond Shi's expectation. Wang Run ranked 25th among 32 players in the tournament concluded on Saturday. Their long-term goals are reaching the podium in the 14th National Games in 2021 in Xi'an City, Shi says. Shi has set another goal of his own. Back to Yingshang, he is going to edit a textbook on draughts for local students. He will also train more players and coaches in other counties of Anhui Province. Shi has never regretted abandoning his easy life in Guangdong. He is happy to see more young students playing draughts. "Bringing the four left-behind children to the National Games is just the start of my grand plan," He says.
