Meet Vincent Lo

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article Monday (11/17/08) on China - SF ties which was written from an interesting point of view (more interesting at least than all the different so called "articles" simply rehashing a week old news). Called "The Man to see in Shanghai", the article is about Vincent Lo, who epitomizes - according to the SF Chronicle - San Francisco/Shanghai relations.

M. Lo "is one of the most successful businessmen in China. He owns a number of companies under the Shui On label, including real estate development, construction and building materials firms. For a while, he even owned a piece of the Bank of America building in San Francisco. Estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.4 billion in 2006, he is also known as the "king of guanxi (connections).", according to the Chronicle. He also chairs a committee making strategic recommendations to the China SF project.

By presenting the man and his goals/desires/needs, the article also points out a bunch of interesting facts and issues, as follows :

• Why bringing Chinese businesses to San Francisco and Bay Area Businesses to China and is a good trade off for both cities :

From the Chinese point of view :

1. Bay Area entrepreneurship has the unique advantage of offering "innovation, high-tech know-how and the ability to turn these attributes into commercial successes", and most importantly green tech, says the article.
2. San Francisco is the first city Chinese think of when they think of the US - a quarter of its population is Chinese or of Chinese descent. As such, Mr Lo said in an interview during the U.S.-China Green Tech Summit, San Francisco is the "natural gateway to Asia". Chinese businessmen, he believes, will "be most comfortable" in San Francisco.

From the Bay Area point of view:

1. In return for help on the Californian soil, the articles says M. Lo is willing to give Bay Area companies the resources necessary to "break into the gigantic Chinese Market". The article quotes the interview he gave during the US-China Green Tech Summit which recently ended on the 14th of November : "We need to help small and medium-sized companies. They tend be the most creative and entrepreneurial. But they probably don't have the necessary resources to understand the market and formulate a long-term view. I think we can easily help them."

• Some issues to deal with :
  
  1. if Bay Area entrepreneurs are interested in the prospect, M. Lo said, "They should be committed to coming here and staying, at least for a while. Not just one man, the whole family."
  2. San Francisco's reputation, which is that it's bad for business. "That's why we have to change it," Lo said. "That's why it's really a breath of fresh air talking to Mayor Newsom and Michael Cohen. They all want to make a difference. They see the future."
     Thank you for your insight, Mr Lo (as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle)