Whether it is the entrepreneurs of Wenzhou who have developed the informal lending circles, those returning from Silicon Valley, your local delivery man who represents 6 delivery companies or the freshly minted grads who are receiving government aid, China breadth of entrepreneurial ventures is wide.

Some of China’s biggest celebrities (Jack Ma) are in fact entrepreneurs, so big in fact that they warranted their own reality  TV compeition (CCTV’s Win In China) and their own documentary Win In China.

Recently released, the documentary is an interesting behind the scenes look on the show, and the wider entrepreneur phenomenon, to capture the fascination behind entrepreneurs by looking through its judges (Jack Ma) as they have attained a hero status in China…. and what some will take to make it there.  The core competition is structured my like that of Trump’s Apprentice in so far as contestants are tested on their ability to work in teams, think on their feet, and succeed at a task, however, unlike Trumps version where it is a pool of elite MBAs, this show runs the gamete of single mothers/ grandmothers, successful manufacturer, recent MBA, returning Chinese, and so on. Additionally, the show adds a final 1-on-1  self criticism/ debate that becomes the climax of each show, a segment that leads into the final judging by Jack Ma and his team to decide the fate of one member over the other.

On a wider level, what I find interesting about this show is not so much the competition, or who won (the good guy won), but the range of character that was displayed by the contestants, and the flexibility that the game offered contestants as they proceeded. You had some members who were really trying hard to proceed with a moral compas in hand.  Their goal was to develop a product/ service that was truly the best, without cutting corners.  While others clearly were happy to trade their moral compass, and push the lines of sexual harrasement, to gain the edge.

Equally interesting, perhaps more so, was the fact that when one member (The Wolf) was called out for repeatedly working outside the confines of the rules, he trumped with “I was not educated in school.  I had to work doubly hard for my success”..and received a standing ovation. A very interesting insight.

As I mentioned, in the end the “good” guy won the battle that was Win In China, but the update from the producer showed that in reality that had little bearing on who the war:

The winner of the competition, Song Wenming, started his business; it is going slower than he expected. The second place winner - Zhou Yu – “The Wolf” - has rapidly expanded his plants and is growing his business quickly

1. Investment of 100 million US dollars, Alibaba to build western base in Chengdu
On June 29th, the signing ceremony of the western base project of Alibaba Group was held in Chengdu High-tech Zone. It is learnt that Alibaba Group is to invest 100 million US dollars in Chengdu to build the “Alibaba Western Base”, whose business range will cover all related businesses conducted by the Group’s subsidiaries, with such functions as research, calling, background operation and maintenance, management and settlement, disaster recovery and training, etc. The settlement of the Chengdu Operation Service Center subordinated to the Alibaba Group was also signed at the occasion.

2. Total investment of 800 million yuan, China Plastic City Chengdu project settled in Xindu
The management committee of China Plastic City based in Yuyao city of Zhejiang province recently signed an agreement with Xindu district, to formally settle the China Plastic City Chengdu project in the district. According to the introduction, the project has a total investment of 800 million yuan, and after the first-phase put in operation, the annual tax revenue can reach 100 million yuan averagely, capable of providing over 3,000 job positions.

3. Important projects of 10.1 billion of Jinniu district signed collectively
Recently, Jinniu district held an signing ceremony for important projects, during which 4 companies including RedStar Furniture and Zhongtie Wuju signed with Jnniu district a “big bill” worth 10.1 billion yuan, in which the RedStar-Shanghai Mall project of investment of 3 billion yuan will start construction on August 8th, which also contains the first five-star hotel in the northern part of Chengdu.
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As an American living in China for the better part of 8 years, I have experienced the spectrum of customer service experiences, but my experience earlier this week (July 1) at the Westgate ACS office highlighted that within your own office.

On (May 14, 2009) my wife I went to the Westgate office to arrange for the Marriage affidavit.  We completed the form, paid 40USD, swore the oath and were given the document; a document which requires little information (name, date of birth, passport number, name of previous spouse, etc), but whose data accuracy is critical (as we would find out 2 weeks later at the Marriage Registration Office).

We proceeded to the Marriage Registration Office on a day that my wife to be had chose for its auspicious nature, where we were turned away for having ‘an incomplete affidavit”.

The document that the consulate provided (a document with the seal of the State Department) did not contain my middle name.  Furthermore, it did not specify that the name is required “as it appears on my passport”.  None of the consular staff or officers brought this to our attention.

This was not a new problem.

In order to solve this problem, we returned to the consulate two weeks later; the earliest appointment available under the new system.

Following a brief conversation with the local Chinese staff member at the window, and explaining that the error had occurred, she returned 5 minutes later saying that they were sorry but we would have to pay again as it was not their responsibility to fact check the document. That I should read the paragraph at the bottom where it says

“I … , the individual named above appeared before me, and being duly sworn, made the statement set forth in this instrument.  I assume no responsibility for the truth or the falsity of the representations that appear in this document”

At this point I was fairly astounded that someone - anyone in the ’service’ business - would dodge responsibility and stick the ‘client’ with an additional $40 charge for what was a simple clerical error

I was not holding them responsible for the veracity the document, but the fact that their document and officers failed to properly ensure the document was properly filled out in the first place. That, even though the consulate staff and officer both reviewed the document against my passport, neither alerted me that I needed to provided my name as it appears on my passport.

Following that, I  made another appeal as they (the original staff member was the person who assisted us 2 weeks before) and mentioned the above, which they summarily rejected.  A second woman then joined the conversation, and when I asked her why I as an American not only paid taxes and paid money for this product should still have to pay for their mistake. I was laughed at and she walked away.  When she came back she told me that I was not paying for them to check the piece of paper, or fact check it, but for the act of notarizing the affidavit. My reply to her was that I was paying for a product, the complete affidavit itself.  She again walked away,

Again, the argumentative nature of the conversation was extremely off-putting, especially as I was facing a loss of $40 and no one on the other side of the glass displayed one ounce of concern for this.  A simple ‘I’m sorry’ would have probably solved the problem.  Instead, she walked away.

Couldn’t they simply have waived the $40?

Then the first staffer told me that I needed to pay, and as I began to move from the first window to the second, I saw the visa officer poke his head around the partition with a big grin on his face.  Apparently, my little seen has become office joke, and it only took him 2 minutes to call us to the window.

While at the window, I again tried to make my case and this time was given a blank dismissive look, and while explaining to him that we had made the trip to Xujiahui and been turned around he continued to look away. My final act with him was a suggestion that he and the staffers look out for this in the future and alert citizens to the problem should it be made.  Again, dismissive look and he walked away.

All in all, a horrible experience.  One that I do not believe I deserved, and as I have come to find out over the last 18 hours, I am not the only one who has experienced the same level of service.

However, rather than simply rant about what I went through, I will suggest actions/ changes that I believe could not only avoid a similar experience, but could make the overall ’service’ much more efficient and customer-friendly:

1) Consulate staff should at all times act in a manner fitting of their position. Regardless of whether or not the official or staff member feels the claim is legitimate, the claim should not be dismissed, and at no time should the person bringing the claim or airing the grievance be treated with disdain.

2) Ensure the American Consulate website is updated on a regular basis to reflect the dynamics on the ground. Two months ago, after the new scheduling process had been in place for several months, a number of the pages had still not been updated, and as of today U.S. Citizen Visa Hour page is down.

At a minimum, the following information should be made available, be up to date, and staff should be trained up:

• Who should / should not apply for an appointment
• Electronic versions of documents that are in a consistent format, use consistent terminology, and have instructions/ examples on how they should be filled in  (I suggest looking at HSBC’s Document Library for Best in Class examples)
• Ensure that all documents, and their explanations conform to current relevant Chinese requirements (for example, instead of asking for “name” on applications, specify “Name as it appears on passport”)
• Create an internal process within each section to maintain the site on a monthly/ quarterly basis

3) If services are to be paid for, then the consulate staff must accept responsibility for the quality of their product.

In the case of a notarized document, the stamp is not the product.  The completed document is the product, and the stamp and signatures are only part of that product.

And even if one is not responsible for it, it never hurts to take a moment of extra time to ensure things are done correctly.

4) If, in the case there is a mistake found after the fact, citizens should be provided the opportunity to expedite their appointments. In the recent case, it took 2 weeks to schedule an appointment (inconvenient), however in other cases (adoption) the document need is time sensitive.

5) An improved customer service platform needs to be implemented

• Staff should wear name tags to allow for easy identification
• Comment boxes (physical and/or electronic) should be made available
• Expatriate staff should be made available when problems arise
• Complaints should not be summarily dismissed, ignored or laughed at.

The people who go to Westgate are couples planning weddings, families planning adoptions, business men and women planning trips, and there is no reason for citizens who are paying taxes and 30 USD a stamp to be treated poorly.

A basic measure of customer service needs to exist, the products need to be produced to quality, and when there are problems or complaints a channel needs to exist.

As I said above, I recognize that as 1 of 10,000+ Americans in Shanghai I cannot expect red carpet service, and am I asking for it. I am asking that the process put in place to manage the 10,000+ Americans living in Shanghai is effective, and offers a satisfactory level of customer service at our own embassy.

Those of us in the private sector learned long ago that small, proactive steps taken to improve customer service pay huge dividends  not only through the positive word-of-mouth that it generates among the community, but in heading off problems before they arise.  As a long-term resident of Shanghai, I submit that the biggest impact you could make during your tour in Shanghai would be to improve the view in the community of this service dept in the consulate.

I thank you for your time and look forward to any feedback you might have for me in the future.

Sincerely.

Richard Brubaker

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The Chinese web site Sohu reported one of the more bizarre episodes in recent memory, as one building of a multi-phase residential construction project literally fell over in an early morning rain storm killing one person on the construction site.

The 13-floor building is – was - located on Shanghai’s Jian Hua Nan Lu in Minhang district and was nearing completion when the accident occurred. It is reported that more than 200 units in the complex had been sold and as news of the collapse spread, angry home-owners began to appear to demand a resolution.

This incident brings into clear focus the problem of construction quality in the real estate industry. In western countries the standards is for commercial housing stock and commercial office stock is expected to have a life of between 60 – 80 years. Downtown Chicago, for example, contains office buildings that are more than 70 years old that have been renovated to extend their lives for another 20.

By contrast anyone surveying Shanghai can see housing and office stock constructed within the past 20-30 years that has become dilapidated more quickly than expected due not only to the use of low-grade construction materials, poor construction quality and poor management. In the case of this property in Minhang, the inevitable results just occurred more quickly.

- Guest Writer: Zhou Zhi Min