The Information Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government in collaboration with Xinmin Evening News have produced the video series “Shanghai Through Our Eyes”. 100 foreigners in Shanghai have been invited to share what they had heard, seen, and felt about living and working in Shanghai and in China. Today, the China Cultural Center in Copenhagen will present the third episode of “Shanghai Through Our Eyes” and tells Li Ximeng, who comes from Denmark.
Name: Simon Lichtenberg
Chinese name: Li Ximeng
Nationality: Denmark
Position: CEO & Founder of Trayton Group
Before Li Ximeng came to Shanghai, he had no idea that his ancestors already had forged an inseparable bond with Shanghai for more than a hundred years ago. Li Ximeng has been working in Shanghai with business for 28 years, and he is also the beneficiary and witness of a series of policies such as the development and opening of Pudong, the reform of the industrial and commercial tax system, the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, and the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.
Shanghai has undergone dramatic changes
Li Ximeng, who finished high school in 1987, was lucky to be the first batch of foreign students in the International Cultural Exchange School of Fudan University. At that time, when he arrived in Shanghai, China was still under the transition from a planned to a market economy. So, something like buying things required cloth tickets, food stamps, bicycle tickets, etc. There were also only few cars on the road.
After a year of studying Chinese, Li Ximeng returned to Denmark to complete his degree. On May 3, 1990, the Pudong Development Office of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and the Shanghai Pudong Development Planning Research and Design Institute were registered. One month after, the State Council approved the establishment of the first free trade zone in China “Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone”. In 1993, Li Ximeng returned to Shanghai to start business and chose to register a company in this zone.
Li Ximeng clearly remembered that at that time, his company had just started and had no scale, but the people of administrative committee of the government were still willing to communicate with him and give him advice.
In 1994, China launched the largest, widest, and most profound reform of the industrial and commercial tax since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The new tax system has created conditions for fair competition among enterprises. Li Ximeng said: “The establishment of tax rules makes me feel safe to be a businessman.”
The government is doing service
Starting in 2018, the concept of “serving as a waiter” has been frequently mentioned, and the government must be a good “serving as a waiter” for the service enterprises.
Li Ximeng, who has been doing business in China for nearly 30 years, knows it clearly. He expressed that “The government is serving as a waiter who is service-oriented and helps. The changes are very obvious. If you are going to meet with any government department. They will come instead of you going to see them.”
Li Ximeng felt that China’s economic and social development benefited from the leadership of the Communist Party of China. “Without a powerful government, China wouldn’t be able to develop that fast.”
So, even though some of his competitors moved their companies to other countries due to cost-saving and other factors, Li Ximeng firmly chose to continue to take root and develop in China.
Li Ximeng said: “The Chinese dream is also my Chinese dream.”
Produced by Xinmin Evening News
Watch the third episode by clicking the play button below
//DANISH
Shanghai Gennem Vores Øjne – Li Ximeng: Den Kinesiske Drøm er også min Kinesiske Drøm
Informationskontoret for Shanghai Municipal People’s Government har i samarbejde med Xinmin Aften Nyhederne produceret videoserien ”Shanghai Gennem Vores Øjne”. 100 udlændinge i Shanghai er blevet inviteret til at fortælle, hvad de havde hørt, set og følt om at bo og arbejde i Shanghai og i Kina. I dag præsenterer Det Kinesiske Kulturcenter i København den tredje episode i ”Shanghai Gennem Vores Øjne” og fortæller om Li Ximeng fra Danmark.
Navn: Simon Lichtenberg
Kinesisk Navn: Li Ximeng
Nationalitet: Danmark
Stilling: CEO & Grundlægger af Trayton Group
Før Li Ximeng kom til Shanghai havde han ingen idé om, at hans forfædre allerede havde et uopløseligt bånd med Shanghai for mere end hundrede år siden. Li Ximeng har arbejdet med handel i Shanghai i 28 år, og han er også modtager og vidne til en række politikker såsom udvikling og åbning af Pudong, det industrielle og kommercielle skattesystems reform, Shanghai Waigaoqiao frihandelsområde og Shanghai pilot frihandelsområde.
Shanghai har gennemgået dramatiske ændringer
Li Ximeng, der afsluttede gymnasiet i 1987, var heldig at være den første gruppe af udenlandske studerende på International Cultural Exchange School på Fudan Universitet. På det tidspunkt, da han ankom til Shanghai, var Kina stadig under overgangen fra plan- til markedsøkonomi. Så sådan noget som at købe ting krævede tøjbilletter, fødevarekupon, cykelbilletter osv. Der var også kun få biler på vejen.
Efter et års kinesisk læring vendte Li Ximeng tilbage til Danmark for at færdiggøre sin uddannelse. Den 3. maj 1990 blev Pudong Development Office for Shanghai Municipal People’s Government og Shanghai Pudong Development Planning Research and Design Institute registreret. En måned efter godkendte statsrådet oprettelsen af den første frihandelszone i Kina ”Shanghai Waigaoqiao frihandelsområde”. I 1993 vendte Li Ximeng tilbage til Shanghai for at starte virksomhed og valgte at registrere en virksomhed i denne zone.
Li Ximeng huskede tydeligt, at hans virksomhed på det tidspunkt lige var startet og havde ikke nogen skala, men folk i regeringens administrative udvalg var stadig villige til at kommunikere med ham og give ham råd.
I 1994 indførte Kina den største, omfattende og mest gennemgribende reform af den industrielle og kommercielle skat siden grundlæggelsen af Folkerepublikken Kina. Det nye skattesystem har skabt betingelser for fair konkurrence mellem virksomheder. Li Ximeng sagde: ”Indførelsen af skatteregler får mig, som forretningsmand, til at føle mig sikker.”
Regeringen tilbyder tjeneste
Siden begyndelsen af 2018 er begrebet som ”at tjene som tjener” ofte nævnt, og regeringen skal være en god “tjene som tjener” for servicevirksomhederne.
Li Ximeng, der har arbejdet med handel i Kina i næsten 30 år, kender det alt for godt. Han udtrykte, at ”Regeringen tjener som tjener, der hjælper og er serviceorienteret. Ændringerne er meget åbenlyse. Hvis du skal mødes med en fra regeringsafdelingen, så kommer de i stedet for at du tager hen og ser dem.”
Li Ximeng følte, at Kinas økonomiske og sociale udvikling har nydt godt af Kinas kommunistiske partis ledelse. ”Uden en magtfuld regering ville Kina ikke være i stand til at udvikle sig så hurtigt.”
Så selvom nogle af hans konkurrenter flyttede sine virksomheder til andre lande på grund af mindre omkostninger og andre faktorer, valgte Li Ximeng bestemt at fortsætte med at slå rod og udvikle sig i Kina.
Li Ximeng sagde: ”Den kinesiske drøm er også min kinesiske drøm.”
Produceret af Xinmin Aften Nyhederne
