Yang Lan is co-founder and chairperson of Sun Media Investment Holdings, the first and most successful private media company in China. Speaking to IESE, as part of the Chinese Business Women in Leadership conference, Yang highlights how Chinese women are making their mark on China's future and enjoying much better education and working opportunities than in the past.
In this interview, Yang describes how her lifestyle website for the urban working woman, Her Village, aims to build bridges and aid collaboration between Chinese and western women in terms of business opportunities and social changes.
She also talks about the digital revolution in China and how, as the younger generation is turning to internet for more information, today's television needs to collaborate with other media to reach a full audience.
Chinese Business Women in Leadership
Three of China's most successful female entrepreneurs were key-speakers at a special forum, "Chinese Business Women in Leadership," held at IESE's new campus buildings in Barcelona on February 25. More than 300 IESE Alumni, students and guests attended the event.
Welcoming the businesswomen, IESE Dean Jordi Canals said that Yang Lan, Shi Xiaoyan and Zhou Xiaoguang represented "the incredible transformation that China has gone through." IESE Professor Pedro Nueno, also Executive President of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and the event moderator, said the three self-made successes were the utmost example of entrepreneurial spirit and excellent ambassadors for China.
Yang, one of the most influential people in China, is co-founder and chairperson of Sun Media Investment Holdings, the most successful private media company in China with a total audience of 500 million. The group comprises of five newspapers and magazines, 600 electronic publications, a variety of multi-media channels, and three television programs. Yang's own show has an audience of 300 million viewers.
Creator of the hugely popular lifestyle website for urban working woman, Her Village, she was also an image ambassador for Beijing's 2008 Olympic bid. Yang believes China's fast evolution means that companies which cannot adapt to the demands of globalization, will not survive in the future. Sun Media, the first private media investment company in China, is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Zhou started selling accessories out of her backpack and now manufactures her own jewelry brand, Neoglory, one of the most successful in the world; employing some 6,000 employees and exporting to 70 countries around the world.
Shi heads the trend-setting furniture and interior design chain Beijing Illinois. Her early customers were expatriates working in China but now her products are snapped up by the growing middle class.
Yang had some words of warning for foreign investors thinking they simply needed to capture a small percentage of China's 1.3 billion consumers to succeed. "That strategy never works; you need to be very sure of your demographic and the channel you are targeting," she said.
She advised close attention to China's burgeoning generation of urban working women. Yang's lifestyle website "Her Village", in conjunction with a market research firm, is well placed to track this demographic. According to their research, companies would do well to court Chinese women carefully: studies show that 80% of them control the family expenses and 73% would choose to work regardless of their family income.
Seeking a new soul in fast-paced China
The entrepreneurs said the pressure was on Chinese people to seize opportunities while they could as the country's economy raced ahead and state safety nets fell away.
Yang explained the phenomenon: "There is a feeling that everyone is going someplace and there is an insecurity that comes with the responsibility of being successful," she said.
As the country becomes wealthier, more Chinese were reflecting on what kind of society they wanted. "China is searching for its new soul," she said.
All three feel driven to improve Chinese society as it undergoes unprecedented transformation. "We have a historical responsibility to leave a better China for future generations," Shi said. Many people aspired to attaining an affluent lifestyle. "I want to supply a really good lifestyle for Chinese customers but my own lifestyle is not so good - I work 12 hours a day, 365 days a year!" she said.
Prof. Nueno said he had to readjust to the relatively slower pace of Europe on return from his frequent trips to China.
So what qualities helped the multi-millionaire trio make it so big? "Ambition, intelligence and courage are the key factors," Shi said.
The special IESE Alumni event was hosted by IESE and Spain's leading financial publication, Actualidad Economica, to mark their respective 50th anniversaries.
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