A home away from home | An Italian's deep love for Suzhou

To Andrea, an Italian who has been in China for 12 years, the most relaxing thing is to stroll around Qiandeng Ancient Town in Kunshan, Suzhou with his family.

"Let me pay it, dad." Following the voice, one would find a foreign boy scanning a QR code with a mobile phone to buy sugar paintings. The boy, dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, spoke fluent Chinese."My son was born here, so he has been unconsciously influenced by the local environment from the cradle. And I have also introduced him to local history and culture intentionally." A family outing to the ancient town is one of the many ways for Andrea to achieve his purpose.

At the ancient stage, the father and son tried the bamboo flute and ended up laughing about the funny noise they made; at a small shop, they packed zongzi together... " He now knows more about local culture than me," said the father.
"There are many similarities between Chinese culture and my culture. By integrating with the local community, it is much easier for me to manage the company." Andrea believes this sense of responsibility that has existed in China since ancient times is the most crucial lifeline for a company. "Especially for manufacturing companies like us, product quality is the top priority."After working his way up to manager in the previous company he was at, Andrea felt he needed more challenges. Then he went to Kunshan Variety Plastic & Hardware Co., Ltd. and undertook the task of transforming and upgrading the 30-year-old company to stand the test of time.
"Suzhou is an open and inclusive hub for innovation. We have seized the growth opportunities here but also need to always be ready to meet market demand and address new downsides." Under his leadership, the company has achieved an annual sales growth rate of over 10 percent and rolled out more products targeted at the emerging green consumption market. It even has plans to build a new factory in Vietnam. In his colleagues' eyes, a lot of credit goes to the new strength brought by this "foreign face."
Source:  iSuzhou