YuGuiting,ChairmanoftheDongsuGroupZHAOPIAOAftergraduatingfromuniversityin2011,ZangYadan,fromeastChina鈥檚ZhejiangProvince,andherhusbandstartedaclothingbusinessinBeijing.Wheninformedabouttherelocationofwholesalemarketsoutofthecapital,theydecidedtostayinnorthChinainabidtomaintainthebaseoftheirbusiness.Hence,theyconductedfieldtripstoTianjinandYongqing,northChina鈥檚HebeiProvince,butintheend,theysettledonCangzhou,Hebei.
鈥淭heMingzhuInternationalTradeCenterhasdevelopedsupportingfacilitiesandacom-pleteindustrialchain.Inaddition,theCangzhoubasedDongsuGrouphasprovidedanall-roundguaranteeonnotonlymybusiness,butalsoissueslikehomepurchasingandchildren鈥檚education.Asaresult,Ihavenothingtoworryabout,鈥漐angsaid.
Integrateddevelopment
InApril2015,thecentralauthoritiesadoptedaguidelineforBeijing-Tianjin-Hebeiintegrateddevelopment.Thedocumentpointedoutthatthecoordinateddevelopmentwasakeynationalstrategy,whosefocusistoeasethenon-capitalfunctionsofBeijing.Threemonthslater,fourprioritieswereidentified,includinglargewholesalemarkets.BasedonstatisticsfromtheBeijingMunicipalCommissionofCommerce,from2015to2017,461marketsand68logisticscenterswererelocated.
OnJuly29,theGuanyuanWholesaleMarketindowntownBeijingannouncedthatitwouldcloseinSeptemberafterservingcustomersfor20years.ItisthelastwholesalemarketinXichengDistrict.Manyclothingwholesalemarketshaveshutteredoneafteranotherinthepastfewyears,includingtheDahongmenmarket,whereZangwasbased.ManymanufacturersandvendorslikeZangmovedtoCangzhou,whichis50minutesfromBeijingbyhigh-speedtrain.
WangLigong,GeneralManageroftheBeijingShengyaomeiFashionDressCo.Ltd.,whoranaclothingbusinessinBeijingfor24years,wasthefirsttenantrelocatedtotheMingzhuGarmentTowninCangzhou.Wangsaidhisdecisionwasbasedondevelopmentprospectsandtheconvenienttransportationsysteminthecity.HesaidheviewsCangzhouasapotentialnewbattlefieldwherehisbusinesscanachievegreatersuccess.Ofcourse,thereisanothervitalreasonforhisdecision:YuGuiting,ChairmanoftheDongsuGroup,movedhimwithhissincerity.
Toeasethemove,theDongsuGroup,aprivatejoint-stockenterpriseinvolvedindiversesectorsrangingfromplasticstorealestateandeducation,investedinandbuilttheMingzhuGarmentTownandtheMingzhuInternationalTradeCenter.SpeakingabouttheDongsuGroup鈥檚decisiontoextenditsbusinesstoclothing,Yurecountedanexperiencehehad34yearsago.
鈥淚traveledtotheUnitedStatesforthefirsttimein1984.Thedriverwhoreceivedmeworeadecentsuit,andinthefollowingsixdays,hedidn鈥檛wearthesamethingtwice.ThenIrealizedsinceChinawasinaphraseofdevelopment,theChineseclothingindustrycouldalsoflourish,鈥漎usaid.
Healsopointedoutthewholesalemarketsandthegarmentprocessingindustry,whichunderwentrapiddevelopmentinBeijinginthepastthreedecades,arethemostdifficultpartsoftherelocationprogram.Butatthesametime,theplanoffersnewopportunitiesfornearbycitieslikeCangzhou.Inviewoftheseconditions,thecompanydecidedtoinvestintheclothingindustry.
InancientChinesephilosophy,time,locationandpeoplearethenecessaryfactorsforsuccess.Inthiscase,timeisrepresentedbythenationalstrategyofBeijing-TianjinHebeiintegrateddevelopment;locationisrepresentedbyconvenienttransportation;andYu鈥檚genuineattitudetowardvendorsisthelastessentialelement.
Inthepastthreeyears,Yu,69,hasreceivedmorethan60,000tenantsfromBeijing.Heisalwayspatientandkindtoprospectivevendors.鈥淎partfromtalkingfacetoface,Iliketoinvitethemtomyhome,鈥漢etoldBeijingReview.
ZangYadan,aclothesvendor,worksintheMingzhuInternationalTradeCenterinCangzhou,northChina鈥檚HebeiProvinceZHAOPIAOFuturevision
ButattractingthemtoCangzhouisonlytheinitialstep;keepingthemismoresignificant.Toachievethisgoal,aseriesofpreferentialpoliciesareinplacefortenantsfromBeijing,includingrentexemptionfortwoyears,homesalesatadiscountandfreeshuttlebusesbetweenBeijingandCangzhou.Moreover,theDongsuGroupcoordinateswiththelocaleducationdepartmentandhelpsmerchantshandleworriesabouttheirchildren鈥檚education.
YuunderlinedtheimportanceofprovidingawiderangeofservicestoclothingcompaniesfromBeijing.Theyhavethrivedinthecapitaltosuchanextentthatonlyacompleteindustrialchaincanensuretheircontinuedgrowth,hesaid.
Mindfuloftheirneeds,theDongsuGroupintroducedtheMingzhuInternationalTradeCenter,whichdisplaysproductsandoffersavenuefornegotiationswithcustomers,andtheMingzhuGarmentTownforclothingdesign,production,warehousingandlogistics.Thesetwoprojectscomplementeachotherandformanindustrialchain.
TheCangzhouGovernmentplaysapositiveroleinfacilitatingtherelocationofBeijing鈥檚clothingmarkets.Forinstance,duringtheconstructionoftheMingzhuGarmentTown,theCangzhouMunicipalDevelopmentandReformCommissionfullysupportedtheendeavor,simplifyingtheexaminationandapprovalproceduresandspeedinguptheprocess.
Theinflowofbusinesses,ofcourse,promotesthedevelopmentofCangzhou鈥檚economy.Theclothingindustry,whichislabor-intensive,canboostlocalemploymentandpotentiallyhelpcreateagarmenttownwithapopulationof200,000-300,000.Inaddition,withtheintroductionoftheclothingindustry,theindustrialstructureofCangzhou,whereheavychemicalsconstitutethepillarindustry,willbemorebalanced.
Yuhashisownvisionforthefuture:HehopestheMingzhuInternationalTradeCenterandtheMingzhuGarmentTownareabletoundertakethetransferofclothingcompaniesfromBeijingandTianjinbeforegoingontopromoteindigenousinnovation.Byformingamodernbusinessmodelthatconcentratesondesign,manufacturing,ecommerceandtourism,CangzhouaimstoturnitselfintoamajorplayerinthefashionindustryinChinaandperhapsintheworldatlarge.
鈥淲henourtowndevelopstoacertainscale,itwillattractclothingcompaniesfromGuangzhou,FuzhouandWenzhou,andeventhosefromSouthKorea.Inthefuture,itwillhavethepotentialtointroduceItalianandFrenchclothingcompaniestoCangzhouandbecomeaninternationalgarmentmanufacturingandprocessingbase,鈥漎usaid.
CopyeditedbyRebecaToledoCommentsto