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January 12, 2016

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Women propel can-do spirit in business

By Xu Wenwen | January 12, 2016, Tuesday | Print Edition

WOMEN are up-and-comers in the realm of entrepreneurs, and Zhejiang Province appears to offer an ideal environment for those who are enterprising and want to strike out on their own.

According to the Zhejiang Female Entrepreneur Annual Report released last week, more than 1.3 million women in the province are classified as entrepreneurs. They account for 28 percent of all entrepreneurs there, 3 percentage points higher than the average in China.

The report said half of female bosses in Zhejiang in the past decade started their own business ventures out of self-interest and a desire to prove their self-worth. That’s a far cry from earlier decades when women who started businesses, however small, did so for survival.

The report was co-sponsored by the Zhejiang Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Zhejiang Market Herald. At a conference to release the report, awards were also given to outstanding businesswomen in the province.

“This success is ‘womenomics’,” said Zhang Jie, 33, chief executive officer of Huadan Angel Investment in Hangzhou. “Women are sensitive to fashion and, therefore, to consumer trends.”

One prime example might be Chen Min and her Lixing Plaza. Ten years ago, Chen took over a department store that was suffering from slack sales. As a former air stewardess and fashion designer, she set her sights on what she calls “fast-fashion.”

“I am young, I am fashionable, and I know young people buy fast fashion,” Chen explained.

Chen’s Zara store is the largest in the province. She introduced Muji to Hangzhou, and turned the shop into one of the largest in China. She developed ties with Mango, H&M and Sephora. Today Lixing Plaza prides itself on an array of name brands that are both popular and fashionable.

Chen is among the 10 percent of female entrepreneurs in Zhejiang who work in wholesale and retail trades. Among other sectors where women are making their mark are manufacturing, leasing and business services, according to the report.

Indeed, there are tens of thousands of manufacturers scattered in dozens of cities and towns where women are at the helm. One example is Jiang Guilan’s Fuling Plastic Factory in Taizhou.

Jiang started the business from scratch when both she and her husband found themselves unemployed and need to generate some income.

The company started by making plastic kitchenware. She worked long hours to develop the business and find domestic customers. Her big break came when a supplier of KFC ordered disposable tableware for the fast-food outlets. Jiang built a new 10,000-square-meter plant, hired 800 more workers and purchased 50 new machines.

Today, she is the only supplier of KFC’s tableware on the Chinese mainland and a major exporter. Three months ago, her company listed on the Nasdaq.

“Some say it is not easy for a woman to be successful at business,” Jiang said. “However, customers don’t care if you are a man or woman. They are just looking for quality products and reliable service. My job is to keep abreast of everything and run a stable company.”

Nearly half of women entrepreneurs in Zhejiang are aged between 20 and 30 years, and about 30 percent fall between 31 and 40 years, according to the report.

Hou Yijun graduated from art college three years ago and started her own interior design company. Today, the company is well-known for chic interior decor in luxury homes. It employs 11 people, all of them women in their 20s.

“The good thing about being young is that we are willing to learn,” said Hou. “We want to be cutting-edge, innovative and think ‘outside the box’ for our clients.”

The rags-to-riches tales of women willing to take risks and work hard are well documented in the report. Cheng Yajin’s agriculture company, which just started trading on the stock market, was a mere duck farm 10 years ago. Ma Shuiqin’s construction company survived in a wave of failures in the industry because she never forgot that customer service and technological upgrading were keys to success. Qiu Lixia turned her company from loss to profit by adopting clouding technology software and now owns east China’s largest Internet data center.

“A good entrepreneur knows how to spot and seize advantages,” said Huadan Angel Investment’s Zhang. “Variety makes the world beautiful.”

China’s government is encouraging people to start their own businesses and embrace innovation. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Chinese women are heeding the call. The activity index of women entrepreneurs in China is over 11 percent, compared with a world average of just 7 percent.

Hangzhou


 

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