Teamwork

Chicago: While a major duty of Chinese mayors has been courting foreign investment to spur their local economies, now it seems their counterparts in the United States also need to do the same job - the other way around.

So says Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America Corp, the US division of China's largest auto parts manufacturer, Wanxiang Group.

At a recent webcast hosted by the US China Chamber of Commerce (USCCC), Ni served as keynote speaker for "Attracting Chinese Companies to Your City and Getting Chinese Companies as Clients".

During the event, USCCC President Siva Yam invited business and government leaders from across the nation to draw on the experiences offered by Ni, who was educated in both China and the US, and critical in leading Wanxiang to its success as an industry-leading global enterprise.

"Over the past 10 years, much change has occurred in China. As many US companies are going to China to sell their products, China now recognizes that to be global players, they need to 'go out'. Wanxiang is a case of a company that has succeeded in the global arena," Yam says, introducing Ni as a leader in his field.

Wanxiang's predecessor was a farm machinery workshop founded in 1969 in Zhejiang province by Lu Guanqiu, Ni's father in law. The factory first produced parts for agricultural equipment and automobiles and later focused on universal joints for automobiles.

The company now produces bumpers, bearings, joints and transmission parts to carmakers including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota. Its success is largely fueled by China's flourishing auto consumption. The country's auto market, the fastest growing globally, has maintained double-digit growth for 10 consecutive years.

But being the country's largest auto parts maker, Wanxiang is not satisfied with the Chinese market. Wanxiang America was set up 14 years ago by Ni who was then pursuing a PhDin the US. The company first exported products abroad, but since the late 1990s it has adopted a more aggressive approach by acquiring stakes in US auto parts suppliers, which are suffering from intensified competition and high operation costs.

Thriving in its local community, Wanxiang America's headquarters in Elgin, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, was a natural fit, according to Ni. A convenient transportation hub, Chicago provides easy access to Wanxiang's North American customer base. Over the past 10 to 15 years, Ni says, the business has continued to grow in Illinois, with 22 plants in North America today.

"In the past eight or nine years we've done a lot of acquisitions, and on average our results in investment are more than 100 percent per year," Ni says. Wanxiang also has a venture equity arm that includes telecom, pharma, software, and energy endeavors.

Wanxiang Group earned 40.8 billion yuan in sales last year. "About every 10 years we want to add a zero to that figure," Ni says.

The secret for a successful partnership, Ni says, is partnering with companies that have common objectives to share and resources to exchange. Wanxiang's endeavors in renewable energy are one example.

The city of Rockford, near Wanxiang's corporate headquarters, is currently exploring options of working with the company in this realm. Mayor Larry Morrisseyis confident in Wanxiang's ability as a partner.

"We are excited that our vision aligns so well with Wanxiang's vision for the future," he says. "We believe in the need for sustainable energy and sustainable growth. Rockford and Wanxiang can have an incredible future as we develop community energy strategies that take advantage of Wanxiang's expertise in many areas, including renewable energy, finance, and development. We look forward to working with Wanxiang in the years to come."

Open mindedness is key in establishing such partnerships, Ni says. Once people can visualize and discuss common goals and objectives, psychological barriers about cultural unknowns can be overcome, Ni says, adding that communication is vital in establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships.

Another secret is localization.

"When we first came to Elgin we pledged to hire locally as much as possible," says Gary E Wetzel, Wanxiang's COO and CFO. "We have kept to that pledge. Local people (Elgin and neighboring communities) get first staffing consideration whenever possible."

Illinois also provided a hospitable and welcoming environment for business partnering, Ni says.

"Wanxiang has been a tremendous addition to Elgin," says Edward Schock, Elgin's mayor. "Not only is Wanxiang a great boost to our local economy, but they are a great corporate citizen."

Building on those foundations, Ni is continuing to push Wanxiang to even greater depths of success. "We are still very hungry in terms of looking for investment opportunities," he says.

(China Daily 09/08/2008 page7)