WITNESS TO GROWTH
Zhou's Fasten is based in Jiangsu, a province located in the Yangtze River Delta. The province, covering an area larger than the Republic of Korea, is one of the most developed regions in China.
From producing fiber rope in the 1960s to growing into an export-oriented high-tech enterprise, Fasten has been a witness to China's massive economic transformation.
"To some extent, the 2008 financial crisis tested China's economy. It brought about the second round of transformation earlier than expected," says Li Huiwu, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the People's Government of Guangdong Province.
Zhou acquired Fasten from his father in 2008. He says that the global financial crisis didn't hurt his company as badly as it could have, and he is thankful to the local government at the time for providing timely information and services.
It is this support for the country's companies that has allowed the CPC to win praise from corporations and enterprises across the nation. Many of these companies are active in establishing their own Party organizations, says Wang Jianxin, an official with the CPC's Jiangyin County Committee.
"Our company's Party organization has been more stable than our administrative system. Why are we giving up such a well-organized system?" says Zhou Jiang, also secretary of Fasten's Party committee.
In comparison with Fasten, China International Marine Containers (Group) Ltd. (CIMC) has not been so fortunate.
The state-controlled company, located in the city of Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, received no orders for 15 consecutive months.
"I traveled around the world during that period. I observed foreign companies, trying to find a way out," said Liu Xuebin, CIMC's vice president.
Looking through a French window on the second floor of the CIMC headquarters building, construction workers are laying a foundation for a trading center on the city's coast. Hong Kong lies on the other side of the sea.
Every morning, Liu looks out at the construction site under his feet and the prosperous metropolis across the sea, thinking about his 1.3-billion-yuan "dream project," which is about to be completed after three years of construction.
"These are new container manufacturing lines. All of the lines are controlled and monitored by computers. My workers will only need to push a few buttons to operate the lines," says Liu.
The new lines' annual output will be 50 percent higher than that of Liu's company's existing lines. The new lines will also help Liu's company save money and reduce emissions of toxic gases created during the production process.
