Making his mark

Allan Zeman, chairman of Hong Kong's Ocean Park theme park and the father of the city's trendy, vibrant Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) nightclub and dining zone, was also among the first batch of businesspeople looking to start businesses on the mainland in the late 1970s.

Amid the country's blossoming business reforms, Zeman, who originally came to Hong Kong and China from Canada, established his first garment agency firm in Changsha - the capital city of Hunan province and birthplace of Mao Zedong. Zeman says the Mao connection was no coincidence.

Although the Chinese government backed costal cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou were in the vanguard of the economic reform, Zeman notes that official policy wasn't his main consideration when setting up his first mainland office.

"I know that Changhsa was the birthplace of Mao The historical and cultural influence was so strong that I talked to myself and said, 'why not go to the 'head office' of the mainland,'" he says.

Zeman says he also made the bold move due to lower labor costs.

"My garment firm had businesses in neighboring regions like Taiwan and Philippine at that time but the production costs on the mainland were very cheap."

Clothes were dispatched from the plants in Changsha to retail outlets in Hong Kong or other regions. But the consignments ran into hiccups at the onset because of the primitive railway system and unsystematic management system, he recalls.

"Some employees at railway stations offloaded my inventories from the train to make room for other goods that made my products late to Hong Kong," he says. "But I could eventually manage to recoup the losses through reselling the stock because of the cheap production costs."

Zeman says the main difference between running a business on the mainland in the 70s versus other markets was that every basic necessity in the country was very unsophisticated.

"You had to make a booking two days before if you wanted to make a long distance call to Hong Kong and lights would be cut out in the evening It's just like I was in an old movie."

However, compared to other Hong Kong entrepreneurs he was treated with an even higher respect because he is "foreign looking".

Aside from the difficulties, Zeman notes that the maiden exploration gave him invaluable experience that helped him to build up a strong network and paved the way for his future expansion in the north.

"Although I had to overcome every kind of hardship from the beginning I've never given up, I've been there to see the improvements over the years," he says. "That helps me to understand the mentality and culture of the changing society."

Zeman now capitalizes on the take-off of the mainland economy. He has applied the LKF concept, a buzzing center of clubs, pubs and restaurants in Hong Kong's Central district, to many mainland cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, as well as opening noodle houses under the LKF brand in Guangzhou and other cities.

In September 2008 Zeman renounced his Canadian citizenship and became a naturalized Chinese citizen because, he said, he had lived and worked in the city for 38 years and always considered it his home.

"I've spent half of my life in Hong Kong and I've done my things for Hong Kong. I was on the mainland before most of the Hong Kong residents. It (becoming a Chinese citizen) makes my feeling complete," he says.

In retrospect of the 30-year economic liberalization, Zeman believes that the mainland economy is in the right direction.

"It's understandable that the change wouldn't come overnight. To minimize the instability of the process, the country has to keep the deregulation in slow pace. But the country's leadership now can manage to ride on the economy," he says.

In spite of the thriving economy, Zeman points out that the mainland has worked insufficiently on their public relations in the past, which led some misunderstandings from the outside world.

But he notes that the Beijing Olympics provided a good platform for the country to showcase its hospitality to the world, as well as polishing its image and improving its relationship with other countries.

Although the US financial tsunami is looming the global economy, Zeman believes that the mainland can weather the storm by maintaining an average GDP growth of 7.5 percent-8 percent.

(China Daily 12/22/2008 page2)