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

 In 1996, Hideyuki Hoshiya met with Zhao Qizheng, then Vice Mayor of Shanghai and Governor of Pudong New Area

Still unsure about the prospects, in March 1996, Hideyuki Hoshiya decided to meet with Zhao Qizheng, then vice mayor of Shanghai and governor of Pudong New Area, who quieted Hideyuki Hoshiya's doubts. He said that he would go on a business trip to Tokyo the next month and he would take that chance to explain to the management team of Mitsui & Co about the development and prospects of both Pudong and Shanghai’s economy. After that, the worries over the development in Pudong were gradually dismissed. Hideyuki Hoshiya told a local female employee who cried and opposed the decision to move to Pudong earlier that, "As a Japanese I am confident in the opening up and development of Pudong, so why aren't you confident as a Shanghainese?" The woman finally understood Mitsui & Co's decision to move their office. On June 20, 1996, as the first enterprise that had moved into Mori Building's new building, Mitsui & Co held a signing ceremony at the Okura Garden Hotel. At that moment, Hideyuki Hoshiya thought that as General Manager of Mitsui & Co Shanghai he would spare no efforts to develop Shanghai’s manufacturing industries, so as to repay the trust given by Shanghai local employees and the management of the Mitsui & Co Headquarters.

It turned out that as the Vice Mayor had promised, Pudong's business environment gradually improved, while Mitsui & Co developed and expanded with a significant growth in revenues in this new building and was praised by the Headquarters. During Hideyuki Hoshiya's 8-year tenure in Shanghai as General Manager, the company remained profitable, which proved that the decision to move to Pudong was correct.

 In 1996, Mitsui & Co held a ceremony at the Okura Garden Hotel for moving into Shanghai Sen Mao International Building

In 2003, Hideyuki Hoshiya returned to the Headquarters in Tokyo but continued to be involved in the China-related Steel Division business. He acted as a special consultant for Mori Building in 2008 thanks to his help to Mori Building’s business in Shanghai. In 2014, when he turned 64 years old, he was dispatched to Shanghai again as the General Manager for Mori Building (Shanghai) Real Estate Management Consulting and Shanghai World Financial Center. His two-year tenure ended successfully.

Before he returned to Japan in 2017, he was invited by the Shanghai People's Publishing House to write and publish a book named A Bond with China——My Life Journey, in which he revisited his 40 years’ bond with China since his youth.