Optimistic outlook

Explaining why he was possibly chosen as the publisher, Tang says: "The Chinese market is big and important. So a brand with a long history needs a team that can keep proposing creative ideas to meet the demands of a market dominated by young people."

By young people, Tang means those under 30 years old.

"China is changing fast, especially in the recent two years. And each month we talked about different topics when my boss visited China.

"One month, it's shared bikes. Then it was apps for laundry.

"With the apps, people will appear at your door to collect your laundry. Or you can enjoy a manicure at your office via an app on your phone," he says.

"It (the providing of the services) is not possible in many markets. But labor costs in China are comparatively low," he says.

Chinese brands have already started influencing other markets.

"What you do (in China) is also attracting other people's attention, and is thus having a big influence," says Tang.

Since he took the job on Aug 1, Tang has reorganized the administrative and editing systems, so that interactions among the different departments－marketing, planning and editing－are smoother.

Now, the editorial team takes more interest in producing quality content for branding and marketing.

For instance, for the annual celebration on Dec 15, fashion editors at GQ China helped the 10 men of the year with their hair, makeup and outfits. And they filmed the process and shared the videos on WeChat.

They also built an on-site studio to collect videos of the men of the year, besides taking photos of them.

"It is more interesting for both the stars and netizens," Tang says.

Before GQ China, Tang worked in marketing and branding for magazines for seven years, with stints at Bloomberg Businessweek and Esquire.

Tang, who is a Libra, advocates the idea that men should not only have a stylish look and an interesting soul, but also a profound understanding of the world.

He loves the in-depth features in GQ magazines, besides jogging, swimming and tennis to keep fit.

Describing GQ, he says: "Despite being a fashion magazine, we have an editorial team to do in-depth reporting because we want to provide Chinese men with something interesting and profound about our society."

Explaining how the process works, he says that in one instance six GQ editors spent six months collecting 800,000 characters of material on rhinitis in China's big cities, but in the final version, readers got only 10,000 characters.

"We invest a lot in such reports, but they give us a unique quality," says Tang.

Finally, he says he hopes Chinese men, especially those who tend to stay indoors, such as those in the IT industry, pay more attention to their appearances.

"They are very interesting people, but appearance, which reflects one's inner character, is also very important."

Contact the writer at yangyangs@chinadaily.com.cn