If life is a book, then I am lucky to say that my book started happily. My name is Pim Overes, I’m a Dutchman living in Xiamen, and I would like to share my Chinese dream with you. Born in a small rural town in Holland (Holland is a part of The Netherlands) and growing up amongst farms, grasslands and cows, my life started quietly outside the city crowds. Most of my youth I was cycling to or from school and afterwards I used to do sports and did various jobs for petty cash. Although not being much of a concentrated learner, I did manage to make my grades, and was allowed to study at a famous University in the Netherlands – Delft University of Technology.

Pim Overes climbs the Great Wall. [Photo provided to China Daily]

After a few years enjoying university life, my interest in mechanical engineering started focusing on offshore structures. Imagining these large constructions out at sea and withstanding all elements of nature, was something that really appealed to me. So after my bachelor in Mechanical Engineering, I enrolled for a Master’s in Offshore Engineering. That was when I came in contact with the company I work for now – Huisman. After an internship in the south of Vietnam, I was looking for a challenging but creative graduation project, and I found Huisman willing to sponsor this. During my graduation project I enjoyed the working atmosphere and the products so much that I decided to apply for a job at Huisman as soon as my graduation was completed.

So I started my career at Huisman. Working in the project management department, I was directly assigned to manage new-build crane projects. Some of these projects were manufactured at a newly opened fabrication yard just outside Xiamen. Travelling regularly between Europe and China, I started to get really accustomed with the way of life and working mentality in Huisman China. Showing my enthusiasm of working in China, I was asked to work on a permanent basis in China, initially to setup a project management department based on European Project Management principles and standards. After this was completed, I continued working my way up the ladder to my current position of Managing Director. Looking back, and although there were challenges with working in a completely different culture and environment, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I am proud to be part of a successful team that is producing high-end tailor made products for the offshore Oil and Gas industry.

I enjoy daily life in China. Besides all the work related activities, I try to spend my spare time outdoors. With playing golf and squash, and swimming, cycling and hiking my way through the weekend I consider myself busy but enjoying life. After 5 years living in China, I have fewer difficulties with communicating in and with Chinese. But I must admit sometimes I still feel ashamed not being able to speak proper Mandarin. Luckily more and more people speak English or are patient enough to listen and understand my “Laowai” Mandarin.

A question that I often receive from my family or friends in Holland is whether “It’s difficult to live in a complete different culture?” Doing this for 5 years continuously, I must say that in essence people have similar objectives, but reaching these objectives is done differently. Of course now and then, I do face challenges, but trying to view it from multiple perspectives normally helps me to accept the situation or propose a solution. I think every expat living in China has his/her encounters with local habits or culture, but describing these would not be polite as these are most of the time isolated cases, and are only representative for a small group of people. There are some downsides of living in a big city. It feels like air quality and traffic (safety) are not improving as the city seems to expand and become more crowded. Why do I say big city? The city of Xiamen has about 5 times more people than the biggest city in The Netherlands, which is Amsterdam!

For me, my main focus goes out to work, because that’s what I am here for. The enormous development the company has gone through over the last 5 years, and is likely to continue over the next 5 years, is continuously taking all of our attention. Our focus is on continuous innovation and development of our products and manufacturing capabilities. I am proud to say that we are well on our way to becoming the most advanced and diverse offshore equipment manufacturer of mainland China. Besides this we are working hard on corporate social responsibility (CSR) tasks. For people less informed about this, it’s a commitment by the company to operate in a Socially, Economically and Environmentally sustainable way. Or more easy to remember, it’s about finding a balance and committing your company to: People, Planet and Prosperity.

My Chinese dream is about this subject of doing responsible and sustainable business in China. I believe that when companies do focus on this matter, it will drive their competitiveness and improve their reputation in the long run. Of course it requires a strategy that is focusing on a longer term, rather than one that focuses on a quick return on investment. I truly believe that with the right focus in the boardroom it can do a lot of good for the company and its surroundings. Being able to understand the social challenges, and act accordingly, will eventually reduce turnover and improve productivity. Knowing the footprint that you leave behind as a company, combining this with a strategy that focuses on reduction of waste or improved energy savings, will eventually do good for the company and its surroundings. So it will require you to think and act creativity in setting out your strategy, but as a result it will improve relationships and the commitment of employees and other stake holders (clients, suppliers, investors, etc.)