3M Greater China President: reform drives innovation

Hailing from the US, Stephen Shafer began to serve as president of 3M Greater China two years ago. Before his interview with us, he said that he was not very good at Shanghai dialect and Mandarin. However, when he blurted out the Chinese word for "fast" to describe the speed of China’s development, he might not realize that his Mandarin was actually pretty good.

(Stephen Shafer, President of 3M Greater China)

Eight years ago, when he was based in the US, Stephen used to travel to Shanghai frequently. Speaking of his first impression of the city, he said with some regret, “Every time I came to China, I worked very hard and I didn't get to see much of Shanghai. Most of my impression of Shanghai at the time came from my interactions with our 3M team and our customers.” But his tone changed while recalling the people he met here, “They were full of energy, very smart, very ambitious, very hard working. I've now lived here for two years, which has only confirmed all of my initial impressions from 8 years ago.”