China News Service, Haikou, June 9th: Hong Kong entrepreneur Chen Lihao: To be a "bridge person" for Hong Kong and Macao entrepreneurs to develop in the mainland
Reporter Zhang Qianyi
"At present, Hainan is building a free trade port. The establishment of relevant innovation and entrepreneurship platforms not only deepens the cooperation between Qiong and Hong Kong, but also provides a bigger stage for Hong Kong youth." said Chen Lihao, who has returned home from Hong Kong to start his own business for more than ten years. Many villagers in Hong Kong are concerned about the development of Hainan, hoping to come to Qiong to start a business and share the opportunities of the free trade port.
Hong Kong has always been the largest source of foreign investment in Hainan Province.
In recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between Qiong and Hong Kong has continued to deepen.
As of the end of 2020, Hainan Province had a total of 6,929 approved Hong Kong-funded enterprises, and the actual direct investment of Hong Kong businessmen was US$10.455 billion, accounting for 70.76% of the province's total.
There are more and more folks in Hong Kong who come to Qiong for business development.
Chen Lihao seized the business opportunity of developing tourism in Hainan to open a seafood plaza.
Photo by Lin Shijie
Discover opportunities in your hometown and change your investment focus
Chen Lihao, whose ancestral home is in Wenchang, Hainan, went back to Wenchang to visit relatives in 2010. During the visit, he saw the rapid development of his hometown, great improvements in urban infrastructure construction and transportation, and opportunities everywhere.
Chen Lihao decided to turn his investment attention to Hainan.
On April 10 of the same year, Chen Lihao brought the entrepreneurial experience of making furniture and building materials in Hong Kong to his hometown, and set up a furniture wholesale city in Wenchang, introducing well-known domestic furniture brands.
For Chen Lihao, furniture sales are considered "familiar", so he plans to develop other industries while running.
After a period of on-the-spot investigation, Chen Lihao found that there are many types of business such as Hainan's real estate industry, but it is precisely the high-quality property management supporting the real estate industry that is very lacking.
Chen Lihao believes that the property management industry is an industry involving a wide range of services, and professional knowledge is very important for property management service personnel.
However, the local property management theory is still immature, and there is a lack of experience in practice.
Therefore, he opened a property management service company in Wenchang in 2013, introduced talents from Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and brought the relatively complete property management related experience of Hong Kong and Shenzhen to Hainan.
According to Chen Lihao, his property management company should not only strengthen the training of internal staff on property expertise and improve the quality of property services in daily management services, but also require employees to learn the laws, regulations and trends of the industry.
In the daily management service process, the property management personnel must solve the problems raised by the owners one by one in real time and effectively, and return to visit and track them, so as to provide five-star services for the community owners.
At the same time, the property management company also closely linked and cooperated with the local housing and construction bureau and the community and other directly affiliated departments to convey the government's requirements for residents (owners) in real time, especially the prevention and control work during the epidemic. The property service companies have played an extremely important role. important role.
"As a Hong Konger who returned to his hometown to start a business, I have personally experienced the hardships of starting a business in Hainan for more than ten years. It can be said that I have encountered a great opportunity for Hainan's development. There are hardships, ups and downs, and more harvests." In Chen Lihao's view, In addition to the familiar environment in their hometown, Hainan provides many conveniences for Hong Kong compatriots who have returned to their hometowns to start businesses, and the business environment is constantly improving.
"For example, Wenchang City has specially set up a one-stop service window to provide services for overseas Chinese and Hong Kong and Macao compatriots to return to their hometowns to invest." Chen Lihao said, "I returned to my hometown to start a business in 2010, and I needed to run between Haikou and Wenchang. It took a It takes more than a month. Now, the business registration procedures are much more convenient and can be completed in one or two days.”
Because of the huge market potential of Hainan, in 2019, Chen Lihao cooperated with friends to open a seafood plaza in Gaolong Bay, Wenchang, with hundreds of booths.
Chen Lihao said that tourism is one of the three leading industries in Hainan, and Hainan is currently promoting the construction of an international tourism consumption center. Of course, he has to seize this business opportunity.
"I hope to combine Wenchang's coconut wind and sea charm with the advantages of seafood and gourmet resources to create a coastal tourism and leisure destination and further drive the local tourism economy."
Chen Lihao invested in his hometown and participated in the construction of his hometown. Not only did he have a prosperous career, but he also brought mature and excellent concepts of operation and service to his hometown to achieve a win-win situation in development.
At present, Chen Lihao's business is getting bigger and bigger, and the furniture wholesale city has been expanded to two, with a total of more than 5,000 square meters, and the highest sales amounted to more than 10 million yuan a year.
Its furniture wholesale city, property management company, and auto inspection company have provided more than 300 local jobs.
Chen Lihao (right) opened a furniture wholesale city, a property management company, an automobile inspection company, etc. to provide more than 300 jobs for the local people.
Photo by Lin Shijie
From "pioneer" to "leader"
Wenchang is a well-known hometown of overseas Chinese. There are 1.2 million compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese from Wenchang, who are distributed in more than 50 countries and regions.
As the vice president of the Hong Kong Hainan Federation of Associations and the executive vice president of the Hong Kong Federation of Wenchang Associations, Chen Lihao has changed from a "pioneer" to a "guide", providing "navigation" services for Hong Kong youth to start businesses in the mainland. He actively builds bridges and assists Hong Kong Young people participate in the construction of their hometowns.
In the early days of his business, Chen Lihao faced various difficulties.
"In the early days of starting a business, I was faced with many problems such as industrial and commercial registration, tax payment, and social security processing. These problems made me unable to start, and I could only continue to explore on my own." He said.
In addition, since 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought a considerable impact on the development of enterprises.
"In recent years, enterprises have faced a lot of pressure." Chen Lihao controlled operating costs in the face of adversity, while doing a good job in service, expanding the market, and seeking vitality in the crisis.
From Hong Kong to Hainan, what we have to face is not only the changes in the environment, but also the fact that Hong Kong and Macao entrepreneurs do not understand the policies, laws and regulations of the mainland.
As an experienced person, Chen Lihao is well aware of the difficulties faced by Hong Kong and Macao people in starting a business in the Mainland.
"Hainan has made me, and I want to let more young people from Hong Kong and Macao understand the mainland and integrate into the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port." Chen Lihao introduced that the Hong Kong Federation of Wenchang Associations has set up a special office in Wenchang to help Hong Kong compatriots from Wenchang return home. It serves as a bridge for township venture capital, carries out policy presentations, conducts industry guidance, and has dedicated personnel to provide a full range of services.
For Hong Kong young people to come to Qiong to start a business, Chen Lihao's suggestion is that first of all, you need to be familiar with Hainan's entrepreneurial environment and the free trade port policy, find the right direction, firm your goals, and connect "Hainan needs" with "Hong Kong director". This will allow you to better stand here.
Chen Lihao said that the mainland market is vast. For young people in Hong Kong and Macao, they can cherish such opportunities and conditions, dare to break the mindset, have the courage to step out of the "comfort zone" of life, go to the mainland to see more, expand their horizons, discover opportunities, and give full play to Hong Kong, Macao and its own advantages will surely create more possibilities.
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