A NEW DAY WITH Alex Xu

– My colleagues and I always try working proactively, taking action before things go in the wrong direction. Doing something rather than just waiting. I think all of us have this positive mindset – despite all the challenges we face every day and despite not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow, we know that if we just focus we can achieve any target we set.

We are living in an ever-changing world. Our competitors, our clients, our suppliers – they are all changing. If we cannot stay with the changes we will lose our advantage and lose the opportunities. Since the second half of 2016 until now, the domestic demands of paper in China has grown a lot, so almost all the paper mills have increased the export selling price. Which means that the paper from China is losing its advantage. In this case, we must find the suitable products or suppliers as an alternative option. It is a quite a challenge! But challenges, in turn, is what keeps me going.

I hope this is my last job. I joined CellMark in 2008 and never want to work for another company again. The trust my colleagues place in me becomes an inspiration and motivation for me to work hard. The same goes for a lot of clients and suppliers; the mutual trust inspires a lot of good business. And with the relationships we build doing business together I consider some of my customers to be among my best friends.

Qingdao, where I live and work, is a city on the east coast of China. It has beautiful sceneries and a pleasant climate. The city’s typical red-roofed buildings are surrounded by lush trees, with the winding coastline and little islands painting a beautiful picture before your eyes, mountains in the background. Many of the European-style buildings here used to be home to many famous figures.

The most famous thing to come out of Qingdao, though, is beer! Tsingtao Brewery has made their world famous beer here for more than a century and is named after the city. As the temperature rises and summer gets closer, you see more and more people stopping by the shops after work to pick up some refreshing Tsingtao beer.