"First and only employer"
Living and working in China
As one of Geberit’s first employees in China, Hai Zhu can look back on almost 30 years with the company. The facility engineer gives us an insight into work and life in the land of the Dragon.
There are over 9,000 kilometres as the crow flies between Geberit’s headquarters in Rapperswil-Jona (CH) and the Chinese plant in Shanghai. Hai Zhu hardly notices this distance. “We keep up to date with stories and news from the Geberit world in the GIN and discuss them.”
Restricted transport and communication
Hai Zhu was one of the first employees at Geberit in China (see box). In 1996, straight after graduating senior high school, he started at the company as a machine operator in his home town on Qushan Island, 120 kilometres south of Shanghai. At that time, the plant had 30 employees for injection moulding, assembly and warehouse management. The product range was limited to cisterns, flush and fill valves, and toilet lids. “We had a lot to do. Limited transport and communication options made our work more difficult,” he explains.
From the island to a metropolis of millions
His work colleagues came from the same area and had little contact with life off the island. Since the turn of the millennium, he has lived and worked in Shanghai, the third largest city in the world – and now Geberit’s only production site in China. The employees come from all parts of the country.
Hai Zhu is now responsible for the maintenance of buildings as well as heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electrical systems at the Shanghai plant. “Geberit is my first and only employer,” he says.
Geberit in China
Geberit entered the Chinese market in 1996 in the form of two joint ventures with local companies: In Shanghai with a manufacturer of plastic cisterns and on Qushan Island with a producer of mechanisms for cisterns. A short time later, Geberit took over both companies completely. Today, the company has a production site and a regional research and development centre in Shanghai and employs around 350 people.
Connecting values
Even if the working methods and hours are different in China than in the West, Geberit's values are a common denominator. “I particularly appreciate the integrity that is practised in the company.” This can be seen in consistently honest behaviour, keeping promises and treating customers and employees with respect and reliability.
The 54-year-old is married and has a son. His wife works in another city, so they only see each other every two months on average. He finds a balance to the vibrant city life in his free time: “I like to drink tea with friends and occasionally play mahjong, a traditional Chinese game that requires strategy and a talent for combination.”