F REIGN TRADE - 中国国际贸易促进委员会

man, he needed to work as a farm laborer
and write slogans on walls with
lime as a propagator. Before dawn, he
had to get up to plant “Trees of Youth”
or build “Roads of Youth”. At night, he
needed to engage in propaganda work.
When recalling this, Zhang became
quite athrill.
In 1978, the year that China resumed
the university entrance examination
system, Zhang was secretarygeneral
of the Youth League committee
in the local municipal region. As such,
he tried to set an example to the other
young people, but actually ended up
taking an entirely different
direction upon being
admitted to the department
of Internal Combustion Engines
at Tianjin University.
He had never expected that
his life would completely
change the moment he
entered the university. He
excelled in his studies, and
in 1982 he was the recipient
of the “National Student of
Excellence” award. After
graduation, he was retained
by the university as an assistant
professor, and some time later
he chanced upon an opportunity for
further study in Canada. After years
of hard work, he was conferred with
an MBA, then a PhD in management
from Montreal University.
In 1995, Zhang joined Bombardier
as a project manager. A colleague
was quite surprised, challenging to
Zhang: “I am a manager after 17 years
at the company. How come you, a Chinese,
are a manager right after joining
the company?” “That’s why I need your
help,” answered Zhang with his natural
humility.
Maybe it was this sincerity that
helped Zhang to steadily progress
through the ranks and gain the recognition
of other people. In just a little
over ten years, he went from project
manager to director, then vice president,
and now president of Bombardier
China. He hacked his way through
difficulties on his own to help Bombardier
secure today’s important place in
China’s transportation sector. All the
tastes during the years, no matter sour
or sweet, spicy or bitter, it would be
It was sincerity
that helped
Zhang to steadily
progress
through the
ranks and gain
the recognition
of other people.
only Zhang himself knows.
Just like a saying from a movie, “in
a life of vicissitudes, time is the biggest
thief…”, it is time that took away the
rigors of toil from him in 1974, made
away the vigorousness as a young man in
1978, moved away his hesitation when
he devoted into business world from academia
in 1995. While he never forgets
everything that he has gone through,
and getting along with time, there’s one
thing that is most precious in his personality
has been kept, i.e. sincerity.
In 1999, as vice president of Bombardier
Transportation, Zhang was sent
to China alone to solely
develop the Chinese market
for the company. At that
time, Bombardier was little
known in China. He even
didn’t have an office, so he
had to work from home.
When asked whether
he had foreseen the prospects
of rail transportation
in China, “Not at all, and
to be honest, I didn’t want
to come back at that time,”
Zhang answered in his typical
frank style. He further
explained that he had just become accustomed
to life in Canada and was garnering
experiences in a western enterprise
in order to step in global market for
future career progression. But this ambition
was cooled down by the mandate in
China. “Furthermore, I was sent back
by Bombardier. Had I chosen to come
back under my own steam, I would have
been praised for ‘coming back to reward
my homeland’,” said Zhang with a wry
smile.
After coming to terms with this
disappointment, Zhang had to gather
his strength to face a new market, and it
was at that time that his talent gradually
came to the fore.
To secure large orders valued
more than hundreds of millions, a great
deal of trust is necessary. In the eyes
of many people, this would never have
been possible without a government
background, especially at that time.
But Zhang did it with his sincerity that
he had always considered to be an essential
professional ethic and the way
he has been dealing with people. The
groundwork of Bombardier in China
is entirely built on his sincerity. He
has never seen any merit in engaging
an intermediate agent or a sales team
with a “background” in order to get
business. He firmly believes that his
approach has helped him focus on
understanding the needs of customers
and keep a rein on expenses. During
this busy period, many people were
moved by his perseverance and sincerity,
and with the passage of time,
people came to connect his name and
the company’s together.
It’s been more than 10 years past,
Bombardier currently operates three
joint ventures and seven wholly-owned
businesses in China, staffed with over
4,000 employees. There are Bombardier
offices in Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou and Hong Kong. In total,
it has secured orders for more than
4,000 rolling stocks and 550 electric
locomotives in China. At the beginning
of this year, it successfully got
orders to supply propulsion equipment
and control systems for 315 metro cars
for export and provide propulsion and
control system for 378 metro cars for
Beijing Metro Line 14.
These days, when people inside
the industry talk about cooperation,
without even giving it a second
thought, they mention Zhang Jianwei.
“Go to see Zhang Jianwei in Bombardier,,
he’s reliable,” they say. This
shows the influence that Zhang has
accumulated. “It all rests in sincerity in
the treatment of others,” he said with
much pride when asked what the secret
was.
When he first returned to China,
Zhang might not have realized that
this seemingly inconspicuous quality
would bring him so many pleasant
surprises. But now he sees it and cherishes
it increasingly as he constantly
advances.
After experiencing numerous
hardships over a decade in the business
world, Zhang’s faith in sincerity
remains unchanged, and it is a quality
and wisdom rarely seen nowadays.
Joint development brings
numerous breakthroughs
Sincerity is not only a faith of
Zhang, but also of Bombardier, which
strives to deliver considerate services to
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