China is his muse

David Laurier says he gets management inspiration from two portraits of traditional Chinese women on the wall in his office. Fu Jing / China Daily

CEO of green solutions firm says the Middle Kingdom inspires him

David Laurier, CEO of environmental analyzer and integrated solutions provider AppliTek in Belgium, is upbeat and loaded with a number of reasons why the company needs to maintain success in China.

His logic is simple: the Chinese government is serious about creating a healthy environment that can offer many opportunities for his analytical technology products, which have been sold to almost 120 countries.

"I am not afraid of the market, which is with great potential," says Laurier while talking about his marketing strategies in China.

Located in the industrial estate of Deinze/Nazareth in Belgium, AppliTek consists of a two-floor office building of about 50 staff members and a factory. In and around the office, which is a half-hour drive from Brussels, Laurier says he has gained a lot of perspective about the company's business.

From a window adjacent to his desk, Laurier can see a collapsed roof and is reminded of the European debt crisis and recession. From another window, there is a pristine freshwater lake.

"These are two contrasting views," Laurier says.

He says he usually pulls down the curtains over the window facing the dilapidated roof but lifts the curtains that look onto the lake to remind him what his business is all about.

"I just concentrate on what my company is striving for," says Laurier.

His office is filled with other muses. On one wall hang two portraits of traditional Chinese women.

"These two ladies who turn back to me are my favorite portraits. One is my tough lady with a stick, who punishes me when business is bad," says Laurier, who bought these portraits in Beijing.

"The other one is a business lady. When business is good, her suitcase can be used to put money."

Though AppliTek jumped on the China bandwagon a bit late, selling its products only a few years ago, business in China accounts for nearly 20 percent of the company's revenues.

Laurier is upbeat about the company's potential in China. He cites a perception in Europe that Chinese manufacturers just produce cheap goods and in doing so, pollute the water, soil and air.

"But if these Europeans go (to China) as frequently as me and if they are in our business, they will become aware that China is making very big efforts in trying to control pollution," says Laurier. "For me, it is amazing that the Chinese government is so serious about bringing health and a sound environment to its people."

Laurier says he has been impressed that the China Environmental Monitoring Center can oversee nearly every major river and city in the country.

In Europe, he says, there are no such integrated systems.

Of course, he says China is in the stage of rapid industrialization and urbanization and faces mounting environmental pressures. He says these factors have helped build confidence in his business in China.

Laurier says the company's current sales volume for big Chinese projects dropped a bit from the previous year but that more medium-sized projects have been signed. In the past, he says the company usually obtained one major project and five or six smaller ones.

He says AppliTek currently has almost 30 small to medium projects in the pipeline.

"I prefer the second model. It puts less stress on our company," says Laurier, adding that a big project is prone to organizational problems; his company, he maintains, is more adept to handle small and medium projects.

Laurier says his travel experience in 60-70 countries every year have shown that ecology and economy have to go hand in hand.

"China's economy cannot be sustained until enough environmental protection policies and measures have been put in place," Laurier says.

He says the company is ready to achieve more in China. One of his first steps to attain heightened success is assigning a China taskforce to offer strategic solutions in the nation to help build an environmentally friendly and resource-saving country.

"Whenever there is a proposal toward this market, our taskforce can discuss and then move forward," Laurier says.

AppliTek is also planning to set up a service center in Shanghai by the end of this year in conjunction with a regional distributor. It currently has one distributor in Shanghai and one in Beijing.

To enter into every niche market, such as the petrochemical, solar power and desalination sectors, Laurier says his company has joined business federations and associations in China.

"We want to become a big fish in all of our niche markets rather than being a small fish in a very big market," Laurier says.

Thus far, AppliTek has scored well with its analytical equipment in China but has not been so successful with its high-priced integrated solutions due to a lack of a business network.

He says the integrated solutions, with a price range of 200,000 euros ($256,000) to 5 million euros, are widely accepted in many countries such as Singapore, Japan and Russia.

"We don't want to cut our prices because we believe in our European quality," Laurier says. "We are investing in business relationships in this nation and we hope we can succeed soon."

He says the company recently signed a contract with a Chinese buyer for an integrated petrochemical solution priced at 250,000 euros.

AppliTek was established by Laurier's parents in 1985; his father is still chairman of the board.

Laurier says his parents have taught him to work hard and respect other people.

"Our family is not only in the industry to generate money, but we are in the efforts to build a company which generates happiness for people who are working with us. Generally, my people's happiness is my happiness," he says. "If they don't feel happy, I will not feel happy."

His parents taught him to respond quickly and flexibly to the market, he says. When an opportunity arises, he says he immediately acts to call the most knowledgeable people in the company and discuss how it can make a product available as soon as possible.

"In our company, it takes nine to 12 months to develop a product and this is really competitive advantage of our company," says Laurier.

With years of training in an executive position, Laurier says he has not felt so many cultural difficulties as other foreigners in the Chinese market. He can easily mingle with Chinese like, for instance, singing at a karaoke club.

"If there are 20 songs on the list I sing them all; if there are 50 songs, I sing them all. Sometimes, I finish at 4 am," Laurier says. He says his only problem is his inability to speak Chinese.

"If I can speak Chinese," he says.

"Then I have no job," interrupts Liu Wei, China region manager at AppliTek.

Though he is on the road for nearly 150-200 days every year, Laurier says he loves to listen to music, sing karaoke and attend jazz clubs to get away from his busy schedule.

He is also a collector of classic cars and red wine, especially those from Australia and South America.

Laurier says he can distinguish a bottle of wine from country to country. And he likes wine so much that he is thinking of exporting wine to China, which still has good market opportunities in the coming five years.

"If I start, I will get to move next year with my Argentina business friends to export wine to China," Laurier says.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/14/2012 page22)