Bringing hope to people in Shanghai and Tibet
Zhu Xianlin (middle) and his colleagues at work on a project.
For 28 years, Zhu Xianling has been working to bring hope to others.
Thanks to him, people trapped in the city’s slums have moved to new homes, and those living far away in Tibet’s Ngari Prefecture found one-way tickets to riches.
Described by his colleagues as a man with a strong sense of social responsibility, the 60-year-old Zhu, however, feels an obligation to do it.
“I just mind my work and do my best to iron out difficulties," he said. "And I’m happy that my efforts are valued."
Zhu used to work with numbers before he had the unenviable task of handling real estate. It was an unexpected turn in his career, but it reflected the times.
The city undertook massive urban renewal projects in the 1990s, but a severe shortage of resettlement complexes stifled progress.
Zhabei, now part of Jing’an, is no exception.
In 1993, it received a grant to establish a property development organization — the predecessor of the Shanghai North Enterprise Group -— to build houses for relocated residents. Local finance official Zhu became its manager. Now he is the president.
“Our job is to serve people," he said "We should go the extra mile to fulfill their dreams of moving to new homes."
However, resettlement is a delicate matter where family and financial disputes are inseparably intertwined. Especially back in the 1990s when it was a new concept.
Though many were tired of squalid living conditions, they were reluctant to move out their dingy homes — largely due to concerns about hidden risks in the making, as policies weren’t away clear in the city’s redevelopment infancy.
“It made sense,” Zhu said. “Before me, the district had built a few resettlement complexes, but they were uninhabitable. They were roughcast houses without gas, water and electricity. It was just a vain attempt. It’s a matter of creating people-friendly environments instead of simply erecting buildings.”
With little experience to guide him, he was still able to figure out a path forward — and he’s taking the bull by the horns.
“I never looked for an escape," he said. "I just got on it and solved knotty problems one by one. We could only make it if we followed market principles, harnessed the spirit of innovation and assembled a competent team.”
Zhu and his colleagues at an urban renewal construction site.
People living in the Pengyi residential complex are happy to say goodbye to squalid living conditions. New apartment buildings will be built to replace decrepit structures, and they will move back to their homes after they are renovated.
Zhu visited subdistricts and towns all over the former Zhabei District, now being merged into Jing'an, in search of suitable tracts of land. He eventually got the go-ahead to develop a vegetable field near Wenshui Road, which covers an area equivalent to 76 standard football fields.
“At that time, it was a completely rural area," he said. "There wasn’t any urban infrastructure. Sewers collected rainwater runoff, domestic sewage and industrial waste water in the same pipe. To ensure a steady water supply during construction, we had to divert water from Zoumatang waterway about one kilometer away.”
On the site, rows of six-floored residential buildings were built, equipped with separate kitchens and toilets. A new tap water supply and sewage pipe network was set up. Three new roads — Gaoping, Yuancheng and Jiaocheng — were built. A park, school, hospital and supermarket were later constructed. Together, they form today’s Yonghe neighborhood. From 1993 to 2000, nearly 10,000 families moved in.
“No one would be happy to move to a place that's inaccessible and uninviting,” he said.
It was Zhu's company’s first project as well as the city’s first well-equipped resettlement complex. Named the “Yonghe Model,” it has provided references and standards for other projects in the city.
In the following years, Zhu continued coming up with new ideas. He addressed challenges in raising capital for urban renewal, and created a new compensation plan for relocated residents.
In 2008. he set his sights on new energy and materials, as well as emerging industries with great development potential in the new era.
“Our work can’t be confined locally," he said. "We should seek further development beyond real estate, and we must embrace diversification."
It seemed predestined.
When the government in Tibet came to him for a buyout of a local pharmaceutical company, they hit it off from the get-go.
Business restructuring saved the Tibetan company from being de-listed from the stock market and drove the Shanghai North Enterprise Group to kick off a new round of reform, exploring the development of strategic new industries based on Tibet’s rich natural resources.
At an altitude above 5,000 meters, Ngari Prefecture in western Tibet has two salt lakes that contain one of the world’s largest deposits of lithium carbonate, a raw material used to make lithium batteries.
“It was just the catalyst we needed to embark on sustainable development," Zhu said. "Also, it fits the country’s focus on developing new energy."
This is where the Tibet Urban Development and Investment Company, of which Zhu is president, began.
Over the years, it has received 17 patents for exploiting, making and extracting lithium carbonate. In cooperation with Tsinghua University, it has formed the world’s leading industrial test line of graphene hybrids.
Over the past decade, the company has provided jobs to more than 1,000 people, and contributed over 100 million yuan (US$15.3 million) to the local government. It has also been an active participant in local poverty alleviation programs, sending food to local families and taking local children to Shanghai to study.
“The company is in Tibet and our business should be rooted in Tibet," Zhu said. "We should care about local people."
Zhu during meeting with colleagues about a new project.
