We could not afford to buy them dinners, so we just drank tea with them in the lobby. The company thrived. Zhao says sales took off after former leader Deng Xiaoping's 1992 southern tour, in which he urged the region to embrace capitalism and grow faster. Huaxin stuck with its basic business but expanded all over the country, even as far as Sichuan province in the west. The Huaxin partners have decided to forgo profits during the first 10 years of the enterprise and plow earnings back into the company.
Pay is based on performance, and some of the profits are set aside for staff bonuses.
Down the road could come a clean break with the government and a public listing in Hong Kong. Here's a Singapore partnership in China that works. In China gaining a listing on the stock exchange or becoming a private shareholding company is rarely simple. Government permission is required, and officials can be fickle. Wang got his start working for two state banks in China.