Making The Impossible Possible

Although China has made considerable progress since opening its doors to industry more than 30 years ago, employment benefits remain few and far between in the People’s Republic. The lack of benefits is one reason why many manufacturing companies in China find it difficult to foster loyalty and retain employees – affecting quality and continuity in the products manufactured.

Since founding Unililght (Zhongshan) Ltd. (UI), our US-educated management team knew from the start that we wanted to create a different type of company in China. Little did we know that setting up a program that most of us took for granted in North America would turn into a three year massive effort!

After our board approved the establishment of a retirement benefit plan (similar to a US 401K) for our employees in the spring of 2007, a committee of UI directors and management set about to find a company which could assist us in setting up the plan. The problem we encountered in China was that no one had ever heard of such a tremendous benefit plan. None of the companies in China which we approached had such a product or even anything remotely similar. Going to Hong Kong, we found that insurance companies and banks there were unwilling to provide a product to a PRC-based company.

These obstacles only served to strengthen our resolve to establish a retirement benefit program at Unililght (Zhongshan) Ltd. In the latter part of 2007, the UI committee brought the idea to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to see if they could help. While they patiently listened to our proposed plan, the bank officials there told us that they had never heard of such a program in China – a fact that was confirmed as we moved up the chain of command. By the fall of 2007 it was confirmed to us that no such retirement benefit existed anywhere in China.

Just because something hasn’t been done before, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

But unlike other companies we had spoken with, ICBC were willing to explore what could be done to help us realize our vision. Partnering with us, ICBC took our case to the Chinese Central government and by late 2008, the bank received approval to establish the first “People’s Livelihood Benefit Plan” in the PRC and obtained the fiduciary capacity to establish an enterprise annuity. Next, an ICBC manager was appointed to work with us in establishing our plan.

Many meetings, forms and approvals from 17 government departments later, UI became the first and only privately owned company in China to offer a 401K-type plan this past spring. All of UI’s more than 100 employees are enrolled in the program to date.

At UI and INLIGHT, our belief is that great products start with creating a work environment and culture that attracts and retains great people. As the general manager and co-founder of UI, establishing a program that rewards our employees for their loyalty and contribution to our success has been a UI achievement that I’m very proud of.

Powan (Karen) Liang
General Manager, Unilight (Zhongshan) Ltd. (UI)