Business Life: Freitz Jackel : Promoting Sino-German Economic Relations
CCTV.COM (06.05 2003 09:51)
With a population and potential market of 1.3 billion people, China has become a prime target for European enterprises seeking to expand their investment opportunities. In today's edition of business life, we will see how Fritz, a German businessman, managed to break into the China market.
Fritz Jackel is a professional architect. He's designed more than 2,000 restaurants in Germany. He has his own architecture firm with branches in Cologne and Frankfort. Back in 1996, Fritz happened to get involved with a business in China that is unrelated to his profession as an architect. He now flies between Frankfort and Beijing about once a month to manage his businesses.
Fritz is meeting some people from the Protective Coatings Enterprises in a restaurant. They're people with whom he has some business dealings. It was back in 1996 in the same restaurant, that people from PCE and Fritz discussed how to break into the Chinese market. They knew that Fritz had some Chinese friends who might be helpful. The following year, PCE won a contract to participate in the Beijing Capital Airport construction project. This was PCE's first venture in the Chinese market.
This ordinary-looking, three-storey office building is the headquarters of PCE in China. PCE is a middle-sized industrial coating provider from Germany. It was Fritz who introduced PCE to the Chinese market. Taking advantage of its technology, PCE quickly got involved in key large-scale construction projects in China. Those projects included the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, New Capital Airport and West-East Natural Gas Pipeline. Fritz's friend Yu is now the president and chairman of PCE (China)
'Middle or small-sized enterprises account for a significant percentage of German business enterprises. They are inclined to have a more humanistic corporate culture due to their positions in the society. Recently, they've been seeking overseas opportunities for development. China, with its population of more than 1.3 billion, has become one of their most important target markets,' said Gerd Hofer, the Member of German Parliament.
Yu and his sister Xiaoli went to Germany to study when they were in their twenties' back in the 1980's. Fritz got to know the two Chinese students and from them, his initial knowledge of China. At that time Fritz helped them a lot to cope with their life away from home, and they looked up to Fritz as an elder brother. More than twenty years have passed, and both Yu and Xiaoli have partners with Fritz in doing business between China and Germany. .
SHIYIDE is a small company located in a small-sized industrial zone on the outskirts of Beijing. Compared with other buildings in the area, its German style is distinctive. Xiaoli is SHIYIDE's president. Primarilly providing German building materials, SHIYIDE is also the agent for more than 10 different brands of German hygiene products in China. The agent for these products used to be in Hong Kong. SHIYIDE's products sell quite well, and like a public relations manager, Fritz plays an important role in this business.
'We all believe that we should start our business by understanding the local business environment and local policy firstly. European businessmen encountered the same problem when they come to China. They should understand Chinese culture and Chinese policy. We all believe that Fritz is familiar with Chinese business practice. So, our friends, no matter Chinese or German, are inclined to consult with Fritz, when they come against difficulties. They say 'let's go to Fritz's and ask for his advice,'' said Cheng Yu GM from PCE (China).
Fritz come from Schreksbach, a small town in central Germany. Most people in this town work in agriculture and live fairly traditional lives. But they do have outgoing personalities. There is a popular saying in Germany that if people from Schreksbach are not farmers, they must be VIPs. Fritz is known as this small town's Mark Polo, because of his travels around the world.
Mrs. Seitz from the German Industry and Commerce in Beijing frequently consults Fritz. They believe that with more and more German companies coming to invest in China, it is an efficient way for these companies to localize through employing a Chinese management team. The Tianjin German Institute sends 1,000 Chinese students to German universities to study language and professional skills every year and then they will come back to German companies in China. Fritz was one of the main investors in this project.
'Bitte ein Bit' is the slogan of a famous brand of German beer. It means 'Please give me one more Bitburger beer'. Bitburger did not access the Chinese market until 1999, but it is a giant in the German beer industry. When Bitburger, the manager of Bitburger Beer Sales and Marketing, consulted Fritz, he said, 'It won't be long before we are exporting to China. First, we needed to find a trustworthy partner, and now we have found one. Second, the living standard of Chinese people has significantly improved recently and Chinese consumers do not think that German beer is expensive. It is quite different from the past, as it was an adventure to do business in China in the past.'
Whenever the German embassy in China plans celebrations marking certain events, they'll call Fritz and jokingly say 'Hello, Fritz Bitburger.' To German embassy officials, Fritz means the arrival of the popular German brew. Bitburger's arrival in China is indicative that the Chinese market is full of different kind of opportunities. .
'Fritz made the transition from professional architect to professional businessman, and is now the chairman of the German Business Training Association. Yu learned a lot from Fritz and with his friend's help, managed to get involved with mainstream of German society very smoothly,' said Dr. Doll Sellen, the supervisor of Foreign Affair Office of Cologne.
The Landergraf Restaurant in Beijing, is a joint venture between Yu and Fritz. This restaurant has become the 'in' place where people can enjoy the real German beer and German food, and it is where that Yu and Fritz get to know more friends.
'The difficulty and complexity of establishing companies abroad discourage many German enterprises to do so. However, some brave middle or small-sized companies would like to take the risk. I believe that the success of the Landergraf Restaurant is great role model for them,' said Norber Burger Ex, mayor of Cologne.
The original Landergraf Restaurant in Germany is a well-known landmark and its equally famous president and well-known cook, Gerhard, is a good friend of Fritz. Fritz has been trying to tempt Gerhard to Beijing with the intention that he'd consent to jointly manage Beijing's Landergraf Restaurant. .
'I think that their business in China is secure and profitable. They contribute greatly to the healthy cooperation and communication between the two countries' business community. Without a doubt, investment return is important, but people are more important. Our cooperation needs friendship and connections. I believe that China will have a more efficient, integrated political and economical framework to secure the business of joint ventures in the future,' said Dr. Walther Keim Ex-General, director of German Parliament Press & Archive Bureau.
Fritz continues to expand his business interests in China. With his obvious business acumen, the strong growth of the Chinese market will play an ever more important role in providing him opportunities to realize his potential.
Editor:Liu Baoyin
