Hideyuki Hoshiya: Determined to be a lifetime envoy for Sino-Japanese exchange

In 1993, Hideyuki Hoshiya (middle) attended a specialized seminar on the market-oriented steel industry as part of a Baosteel workshop on steel manufacturing knowledge

The main mission for Hideyuki Hoshiya this time was to explain in detail the Japanese and American business models which combined the steel industry and the automobile industry,so as to finally find a "Chinese model". For this purpose, he organized a group of 20 people from Baosteel and Chinese automobile makers and spent three weeks visiting Japanese and American automobile enterprises, plants, steel processing center, research & development centers. The Chinese side was very interested in the Toyota’s Zero Inventory Management. After a few conversations, Baosteel and Mitsui & Co decided to unify the management of all their steel processing centers in China under a joint venture company. Besides, Hideyuki Hoshiya facilitated the cooperation between Baosteel and Shanghai General Motors Company Ltd.

He also paid a visit to Pudong soon after he reported for his new position. Mori Building, a partner of Mitsui & Co, had acquired land in Pudong New Area in 1994 and planned to build two skyscrapers. At that time, Pudong was still haphazardly strewn with warehouses, factories and agricultural fields. The plan to build an international trade and financial center there sounded incredible. The Shanghai local employees were skeptical about the idea and opposed the decision to move Mitsui & Co’s Shanghai office from Ruijin Building in Puxi to Shanghai Sen Mao International Building in Lujiazui, Pudong. However, Mori Building was the primary investor of Mitsui & Co and hoped that Mitsui & Co could move to their new office in Pudong soon.