OPINION> Commentary
Business spirit bridges nations
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-20 07:48

 

The Duke of York, Prince Andrew (1st from left) with award winners Dominic Johnson-Hill (2nd from left), Plastered T-shirts (Entrepreneur Award); Shufen Wen (3rd from left)), GlaxoSmithKline (CSR Award); Amy Y.L. Ng (4th from left), Astra Zeneca (Company of the Year); Yan Xinmin (5th from left), Volvo Event Management (Alumnus Award); Fan Zhenxin (6th from left), Amber Design (Young Icebreaker); John Ling (2nd from right), Hayward Tyler (Innovative Product) and Sir William Ehrman (1st from right), British Ambassador to China. All photos Ben McMillan

Astra Zeneca, winner of the Company of the Year Award from the British Chamber of Commerce in China, has 29 branch offices in China with nearly 3,300 employees in manufacturing, sales, clinical research and new product development.

"Our mission is to provide products to help people live a healthy life," said Amy Y.L. Ng, senior vice-president of corporate affairs. "This is not a slogan but a real commitment that we have worked towards in the past and are dedicated to continue into the future."

In 2006 it announced an investment of $100 million to establish a research and development center in Shanghai.

The award was sponsored by UK Trade and Investment, a governmental organization that seeks to attract high-quality inward investment to the UK and to support British business overseas. Its largest team anywhere in the world is in China

"Often, even our strongest-performing companies are not household names because they are in specialist fields in financial services, environmental technologies, advanced engineering, creative industries and life sciences," said Alistair Morgan, director of Trade and Investment, China.

"We believe that the British Business Awards are an excellent way to recognize UK success. We are proud to sponsor the 2008 Company of the Year Award."

Gary Dirks, vice-president of BP Group and president of BP China, announced that Dominic Johnson-Hill was winner of the entrepreneur award.

"We hope that the Entrepreneur of the Year Award will encourage more innovators to share their creativity and insights and to inspire others to turn their ideas into business initiatives that help address the pressing issues of a sustainable future," said Dirks.

Johnson-Hill, who created the Plastered T-shirt brand in Beijing, said that "what we have managed to do is to take a very simple and creative idea and to make it happen, through perseverance and commitment".

Yan Xinmin of Volvo Event Management, named winner of the Alumnus of the Year, noted her commitment and enthusiasm for sailing, a passion she gained while studying in the UK.

The British Council, operating in China as cultural and education section of the British Embassy, is one of the sponsors of the Alumnus Award. With over 60,000 Chinese students in the UK, education is one of the pillars of Sino-UK relations, and the judges believed Yan exemplified what returned scholars can achieve.

The Innovative Product or Service Award, sponsored by Jardine One Solutions, went to venerable British business Hayward-Tyler.

The company "is 200 years old and we have been doing business with China for the last 24 years", said John Ling, director and general manager of Hayward-Tyler Pumps Kunshan.

"China is really developing, with its infrastructure providing more power to its growing cities, towns and villages. Hayward-Tyler is proud to be part of this process. Our founder could never have imagined that this British company would be recognized in China."

Another company with a long history in China, Standard Chartered Bank, which has operated in the nation for 150 years, sponsored the Corporate Social Responsibility Award won by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

On receiving the Award, Shufen Wen, director of GSK legal affairs, said the company "has over a hundred years of history in China, and is committed to being a firm corporate citizen, helping people do more, feel better and live longer".

The final award, Young Icebreaker, was sponsored by The 48 Group Club, whose origins stem from the early 1950s, a time when the "Icebreakers" were the first Westerners to establish mutually beneficial trade relations with the newly established People's Republic of China.

Fan Zhenxin, an alumnus and entrepreneur who founded Amber Design and Public Relations, was awarded the prize for contributing to Sino-British relations through professional excellence and embodying a "spirit of friendship" between the two countries.

(China Daily 11/20/2008 page7)