Wu Jin/Shanghai Daily news

Despite a strong Cantonese accent that makes it tough to speak fluent Mandarin, Zheng Zhaolun, the manager of Shanghai Jingying Color Printing Co Ltd, has enjoyed the opportunities and challenges he has met since moving to Shanghai.
The middle-aged Hong Kong native moved to Shanghai in 1992 when he saw huge potential in the city's printing market.
"At that time, I was working in a printing factory in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, where I found a great many orders from Shanghai," said Zheng.
"Judging from the orders, I felt the city is in urgent need of its own printing companies."
Zheng said the city had a thriving printing industry following China's liberation, and he felt he could rebuild that.
His assumption proved correct. He started the US$1.28-million Shanghai Jinggang Plate-Making Printing Co Ltd in 1994. Witnessing his successful operation in Jinggang, Lin Weixin, a photographic lover and the owner of Jingying in Zhabei District, invited Zheng to manage his company in 1999.
Lin met Zheng in Hong Kong and was moved by his surefootedness. They were friends in Hong Kong and started similar businesses when they arrived in Shanghai.
Lin was more interested in photography than managing a business, however, and after five years he decided it was time to seek a proper manager. Lin remembered Zheng at once.
"When taking charge of the company, I found people did not work efficiently," said Zheng.
"Sales reports were often inaccurate and the company's aftersales service was not very satisfactory."
Reforms have taken place since Zheng took office and every employee has been asked to work at a quicker pace.
Vice Manager Chen Aiping said Zheng is a hard working businessman.
"At first we could only receive some orders from small private companies, but when Zheng became manager, he took every effort to pursuit orders from multinational companies. Sometimes, he would spend years winning over a big customer," Chen said.
So far, Jingying has 19 multinational customers, including General Motors Corp, Siemens AG and L'oreal Group.
The company's sales have grown by an average of 15 percent a year since Zheng took the manager's position. Last year, the company's sales hit 85 million yuan, far exceeding its record of less than 10 million yuan when Lin was in charge.
A graduate of the Hong Kong Da Yi Business School in 1987, Zheng believes a company's profits should be gained from accurate assessment and efficient operation.
Though he is greatly influenced by his Hong Kong education, Zheng does not give up any chance to learn more about the mainland's culture and local people's customs.
One of his great hobbies is reading books about China's ancient philosophers and history.
"Hong Kong was a colonial land controlled by Britain for a century. And the education we received combined the East with the West. Although it seems rich and verified, we lacked the chance to learn about China's 5,000 years of history," said Zheng.
Zheng said he envies his customers and partners who often talk about Chinese philosophy, which is quite useful when doing business on the mainland.
Under powerful cultural influences, Zheng started reading the "Art of War by Sun Tzu", and studying the kingdoms in The Eastern Zhou Dynasty (BC770-221) and the Three Kingdoms (208-280), which he says has been helpful both in life and in business.
"It is curious to find that history often has similarities when reading those books. They make me understand my life better," Zheng said.
Zheng is going to merge Jinggang with Jingying and is seeking space to enlarge his factory.