Six years ago, a man led the first Chinese construction crew to Angola, and then built Angola Nantong Holding Corporation LTD, which has been the top brand in the industry of construction and real estate in Angola. As the company is taking on an air of prosperity, the man resorted to the resource integration decisively and set up China Great International Investment Group LTD. With a heart to serve the society, he committed himself to charity all the time. There is no legendary story in his personal successes, neither in his professional struggles, but the decisive choices, positive attitude and perseverant endeavor when facing opportunities and risks.
The protagonist of this story is Lu Jianfei, Chairman of China Great International Investment Group LTD(Hong Kong). There are three indispensible factors leading to the success of his career, that is, insightful planning, consumer-oriented strategy and social responsibility.
Insightful planning
As the first Chinese construction team leader in Angola, Lu Jianfei seized the opportunity in good time to begin his career. In 2002, most of Angola needed to be rebuilt when the civil war was just ended and large-scale construction was just around the corner. Possessing abundant petroleum resources, the government was to provide adequate financial support to the construction projects. Based on the above analysis and estimate, Lu Jianfei drew a conclusion that the Angola construction market was sure to be flourishing. Adhering to the principles of “concentration, profession, cooperation and innovation”, the company undertook some large-scale projects like Atlantic Villa, the church of Africa and so on. What these projects brought to the company was the praise and trust from the government and the public.
With the aim to expand the business scope and place, Lu Jianfei established China Great International Investment Group LTD recently through the integration of resources. He knew exactly where the limitations and disadvantages were, and made efforts to make the company more competitive in the globe. The market positioning was adjusted accordingly, from the previous labor-intensive construction company to a comprehensive international investment corporation with the real estate development in the city as the core business, large-scale projects construction as the strength, and the international trade as the tie. At the same time, based on the Angola market, the new company was endeavoring to build an international brand with business all over the world.
The only way to survive in the severe competition is to grab the opportunity and keep moving. It is exactly what Lu Jianfei is doing. As an insightful businessman, he sees the chances provided by the responsible government and abundant natural resources, and then takes actions immediately. In the near future, he wants to establish an effective operation mode, including strategic development system, human resource system, budget management system, project operation system, forensic audit system, corporate culture, etc. Based on this effective mode, the enterprise will quickly open up new markets in other countries and get closer to the goal of building a comprehensive international enterprise.
Consumer-oriented strategy
Lu Jianfei always stresses the importance of quality and price, which is the biggest concern for the clients. From the beginning of the first project in Angola, the company started to make all efforts to gain trust from the consumer with honest and good quality. In his opinion, quality of the houses is of vital importance to the construction enterprises, which has successfully been part of brand image of the Angola Nantong Holding Corporation, LTD.
Bearing the pursuit of good quality in his mind, Lu Jianfei also digs into the demands of different consumers. Keeping pace with the government, the enterprise is engaged in the construction of normal houses to meet the requirement of ordinary people’s daily use. On the other hand, the demands of the rich should not be neglected. Thus, the enterprise also has the business to build luxury houses in Angola. The competitive and differentiated prices also contribute greatly to the success of the enterprise.
Moreover, one of the corporate values is that staff is the biggest assets. The enterprise is focused on the personal development of the staff so as to attract talents. Development of staff is of overriding importance because the company can’t go further without professional and honest staff. The enterprise is striving to attract talents, appoint them to proper positions, provide them with a career ladder, and make the best of their capacities. An efficient team is powerful enough to create great corporate culture, build good brand image by word of mouth, and then make profits.
Social responsibility
It is the obligation of every citizen to contribute to the society. Lu Jianfei told China’s Foreign Trade that no matter how big or how small an enterprise is, the entrepreneur should always have social responsibility and be grateful to the society because it is the beneficial policies and strong backup from the government that help the development of the enterprises at home and abroad. When he attended the NPC and CPPCC this year, he said that no matter where he was, he would always come back and enter the meeting because this was the way to contribute to the country and the people.
Besides his own efforts, Lu Jianfei advocates all the staff to join the charity work in order to make it part of the corporate culture. In 2008, they donated several times for the people from earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan Province. In 2009, the enterprise was awarded the certificates of love by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office in Deyang, Sichuan. In the next year, an earthquake occurred in Yushu County, Qinghai Province, and Nantong Holding proposed all the staff offer their love by donation in support of the people in Yushu. Also in 2010, a kind fund was established in his hometown Natong, which was under the support of several entrepreneurs besides Lu Jianfei, with an aim to support the vulnerable groups and sponsor philanthropy and the construction of public welfare.
On the way to be an entrepreneur with social responsibility, Lu Jianfei is always trying, creating and mobilizing.
As an old saying goes, “Roma was not built in a day”, all the successes are cultivated by difficulties and frustration in a long period. Lu Jianfei writes his story word by word and realizes the success of his career step by step. From the Angola Nantong Holding Corporation LTD to China Great International Investment Group LTD, Lu Jianfei has created an extraordinary story with insight, perseverance, optimism and determination. He told China’s Foreign Trade what he concerned most was the way to promote Chinese culture world widely, and his eternal pursuit was to safeguard the national interest, pay back the society wholeheartedly and promote the friendship between China and Africa.