On the afternoon of August 23, 2013, Zhu Jian, Director of the Administration for Industry and Commerce of Ningbo Free‑Trade Zone, visited our company for research and work guidance. Reporters from Ningbo Daily who accompanied the delegation covered the event.

Excerpts from Ningbo Daily are as follows:

 From a “Mom‑and‑Pop Shop” to a Team‑Oriented Collaborative Force

News Report (Reporter: Liu Huimin; Contributors: Zhang Aitao, Wang Yonggang) Not long ago, Zhu Jian, Director of the Industry and Commerce Branch of Ningbo Free‑Trade Zone, led staff on corporate field visits to help enterprises tackle practical challenges. Unlike several other companies seeking solutions for operational difficulties, Pang Bin, General Manager of Ningbo Free‑Trade Zone Pangshi International Trade Co., Ltd., consulted the industry‑and‑commerce officials in detail on key considerations for setting up overseas branches or representative offices.

When Zhu Jian and his entourage asked how the firm had grown within just a few short years from a struggling “mom‑and‑pop shop” into a dynamic foreign‑trade enterprise with several affiliated companies and annual sales of nearly USD 30 million, Pang Bin replied: “We owe our success to the power of our team.”

As Pang Bin showed reporters around the office premises, a vivid scene illustrated his point. Though office hours were over for the day, many employees were still hard at work. Several sales representatives stood together engaged in heated discussions. On the wall beside one staff member hung several award certificates. Pang Bin smiled and explained these were team awards issued by the company. He had asked the staff to take them down to keep the office tidy, yet the team was reluctant to remove them.

“In the initial years after foundation, the business mainly depended on my wife and me. Today the company comprises six business divisions, three overseas offices, five sales teams and over 50 employees,” Pang Bin introduced. More than 30 team members hold master’s degrees in chemistry from top‑tier universities including Zhejiang University, Nankai University and Beijing Institute of Technology.

Zhu Jian commented that talent turnover among some foreign‑trade enterprises was marked by employees “leaving without notice”. Pang Bin responded with well‑deserved confidence: “We bring employees a sense of well‑being via competitive benefits, and a sense of achievement through career‑development opportunities. In this way, outstanding talents can settle and stay with the company.”

While establishing comprehensive assessment and incentive systems, the company empowers teams to explore and expand into global markets. Starting from 2009, Pang Bin and core team members persisted in outreach to a major Brazilian import distributor with annual sales of USD 200 million. They finally secured the first order at the end of 2011. Contract value with this Brazilian firm exceeded USD 100,000 in 2012 and rose further to USD 600,000 in the first half of the following year.

According to Pang Bin, teams are not restricted to designated market territories, and customer‑related information resources are fully shared across the organization to foster healthy competition. Such competition must remain well‑regulated; two teams were disbanded last year due to poor internal collaboration. Thanks to joint efforts across teams, the company’s business footprint extends to more than 40 countries and regions including Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Russia, Argentina, Spain, Egypt, Colombia and Poland.

At present, the company’s Brazil‑based team is largely established, with all members being local university graduates majoring in chemistry. Pang Bin plans to open branches or representative offices in Russia, Mexico and Turkey next. “We will further strengthen team building. Within two years we aim to build high‑performing teams each generating over USD 10 million in annual sales. On that basis, we will carry out equity reform and establish new subsidiaries, pushing the parent company’s total annual sales above USD 100 million,” Pang Bin told reporters with full confidence.