Beginning: opportunities courage

In the curtain of night， Dubai City bathes itself in spectacular lights andprosperity. The United Arab Emirates owns 11% of the world's oil sources， butthe oil is not unexhausted anyhow. So they have opened their arms to merchantsfrom other countries all over the world.

\"It is in the second half of 1996 that l came here， a place with a desert cli-mate. It is hot， so hot even beyond imagination compared with the domesticclimate. When I settled down， I came to know that the market is full of fiercecompetition but features obturation.\"

At that time， few Chinese was doing business in Dubai， so Dubai citizensknew little about Chinese goods， Mr. Dong recalled. The lack of linguistic inter-action led to an even worse story for him.

\"The Chinese goods ware entirely strange to them. So they fell suspicious，and gave me no orders in the first several months of my staying in Dubai.\"

But Mr. Dongdid not retreat. On the con-trary， he walked street by street in thehot sunshine and showed his samplesdoor by door.

\"I want them to change their mind.We brought Yiwu-made commoditiesto Dubai not only to make them popularhere but also show our determination asmerchants with a Yiwu heritage.\"

Mr. Dong finally made it due to histough persistency and faithful attitude，and he began to receive orders in suc-cession. Gradually， he has had a fixedcustomer base in Dubai and foundedhis own trading company - East StarTrading Co.， Ltd. (East Star) - withthe hopes that she will shine worldwidelike a dazzling oriental star. By now， thecompany has held six manufacturingarms and seven trading units.

\"We are doing business on the be-half of not only Yiwu but also China. We make it known that we are Chinese\"

Growth: advantages talents

In the past， shipping any domestic products to foreign countries could broughtprofits to merchants. Today， however， a great number of opportunities usually meanbig challenges and fierce competition though Yiwu has gained international fame.Foreign friends have had higher requirements upon products quality， packaging， de-livering and so on. \"It is right for companies to make money from low prices. But nothigh quality will have a negative impact upon our companies and even the image ofYiwu in the global market. What we need is not only competitive prices but also highquality.\"

Mr. Dong said that there were two focuses in his business in five years:

The first focus is quality control over products and services.

\"In 2000， I bought a land of 30 mu (2ha.) in Yiting Town and founded the Sino-foreign joint venture Zhejiang Hehe Ornaments LLC to make high-end ornamentson it. Later， I established Zhejiang Yingjia Commodities Co.， Ltd. and introduced in-ternafionally advanced equipment. Let's take our carpet production line for instance.There are only three lines of this kind nationwide and we are the only one to ownsuch a production line in Zhejiang. But the former production area can hardly meetthe demand for the further growth. So I purchased another land of 200 mu in SuxiTown and outlined the future of our company as an industry leader?'

Due to hard work over these years， East Star has made significant progresses.This year， Miss Rose Cosmetics and Hehe Ornaments under its wing have been en-titled as international trademarks.

In the industrial park of the company stand some standard warehouses with di-vided storerooms.

\"Our customers can use these storerooms for free. When they head tbr China toorder goods， they stay in Yiwu for only about two weeks. On the one hand， Yiwu isstrange for them and it is hard for them to find storerooms immediately; on the otherhand， there is few storeroom with so short rent lease，\" Dong said.

In 2003， Mr. Dong set up a Yiwu office under the aegis of East Star. The officeoffers a comprehensive suit of ordering， receiving， packaging， and delivering goodsto foreign merchants come to China.Many wonder why the successful Yiwu-merchant in Dubai has brought foreignmerchants to China. Mr. Dong admittedthat he felt huge pressure at that time. Butthe move has proved much far-sightednow. Yiwu-born merchants have donebusiness in Dubai as before， and theirhometown has become more prosperouswith more foreign merchants.

Currently， the company suppliescustomers with convenience in pro-curement， receipt， stuffing， customsclearance， commodity inspection， andbill of lading. Mr. Dong has kept threepromises in foreign trading. Firstly， hehas promised high quality， and oth-erwise he would refund the purchaseprice fully. Secondly， he has deliveredgoods as ordered without any reduction.

Each piece of goods is marked withspecial seals. Thirdly， he haspromised to send cargoat the highestspeed to customers.

The second focus will be on recruit-ing high-end talents for East Star's fullsail.

\"As an old saying goes， 'It is hard toturn back or steer a large ship.' Similarly，a modern company requires an excellentmanagement team although a former firmused to be a platform for a single hero.Our management team includes not onlysome who started business along withlne， but also a few professional managingdirectors I've begun to employed frombig enterprises. These directors havedriven up the management cost， but theyhave also brought new ideas， advancedmanagement models， far-sighted lnan-agement concepts， and unique strategicviews. All these have given our companyunique competitivenesswhen battling with rivalsand boosted our growthfaster than competitors.\"

Tbe daily languagesare English， French， andArabic in East Star withprofessional managingdirectors from domestic famed compa-nies and quite a few foreign employees.

Future: continuous growth and socialresponsibilities

\"Previously， l could not and foundno way to help those in need of aids. Asa son of farmer， I founded East Star andwitnessed its growth. We must shouldermore social responsibilities. We shouldcontribute to public welfare when doingour business， such as offering more jobopportunities. Meanwhile， I will try mybest to offer aids to those in needy

It is reported that East Star hasspared no efforts in public welfare theseyears， such as helping poverty-strickenstudents， offering donatives as part ofcharity funds and natural disaster relief，and funded some preliminary schoolsin the Hope Project.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of East Star， and the following is a messageMr. Dong has sent us to celebrate the grand event.

Ten years is not much long， but it is long enoughfor a company to lay a solid fundation for 100 years ahead.Ten years is too short anyhow.It just marks the beginning of 100 years ahead.I won't forget those who left East Starbut contributed much to our company indeed.I won't forget those from all walks of lifebut with great support to our company in need.I won't forget the families of our employeeswho have shown their consideration fully.I won't forget our employeeswho have just devoted themselves silently.I won't forget our management teamwho have witnessed and undergone the growth of our company.Look back， and I've found myself in tearsafter weathering hard times along.Look ahead， and I've felt heavy responsibilities with a long way...