francesco antonacci, chief controller at pirelli industrial asia pacific, found that, when hereturned to italy after working in china, he missed the country and longed to return.
at a recent communication activity held in beijing by china national chemical corp, also knownas chemchina, antonacci said despite the initial culture shock he experienced during his firstvisit to china in 2014, he has now integrated into the local culture and aims to improve hischinese language to facilitate better communication.
the activity is part of an italyhemed month event, which will run throughout june, held bychemchina, which now holds 65 percent of italian tire manufacturer pirelli's shares. the eventaims to promote bilateral communication and integration.
paolo battistini, industrial director at pirelli industrial asia pacific, said the language barrier washis main concern when he came to work in china in january. however, he commented thatfriendly cooperation with local colleagues helped him integrate into the working environment.
he came to china for the first time 11 years ago to visit aeolus tyre co. battistini said that,initially, he felt that chinese were a little distant and aloof. however, as he learned more aboutchinese culture, he said he found the people were actually very friendly and hospitable.
giovanni pomati, ceo at pirelli industrial asia pacific, first experienced chinese culture about10 years ago when pirelli invested in a factory in yanzhou in shandong province.
pomati said although there were some cultural differences between the two countries, workersfrom both countries shared good principles in common: engagement, proactivity, flexibility andresult orientation.
after mehmet turan, technical and investments director at pirelli industrial asia pacific, came tochina in february, he found that chinese people were completely different from how they hadbeen portrayed.
turan recalled that once, when he was on a crowded subway train and unable to find space onthe nearest grab rail, a lady smiled at him and shared her grabbing space with him. "shecontinued to smile and tried to communicate with me, but language was a barrier and we couldnot communicate," he said.
despite the language barrier and other cultural differences, turan said he found chinese people"warm and very hospitable".
sandra colonna, responsible for institutional relationships at pirelli asia pacific, said that, unlikemany other people, she did not experience culture shock when she came to china two yearsago. she learned chinese at university and as a result had no problems with the languagebarrier.
colonna was born in italy and her mother is part-chinese. she said that she grew up learningabout both chinese and western cultures and long hoped to experience life in china.
"i am very lucky to have the opportunity to work at pirelli and also cooperate with chemchina, animportant company in china," she said.
the communication activity aimed to encourage foreign employees at pirelli to interact with theirchinese colleagues and discuss their feelings about work and life in china, the event'sorganizers said.
they said they hope to suggest solutions to some of the problems foreign colleagues mayexperience in china.
bai xinping, chairman at china national tire and rubber co, a subsidiary of chem-china, said: "our chinese employees need to learn about pirelli's global culture and the employees frompirelli also hope to know our culture."
according to bai, employees from pirelli supported and joined in the organization of the italy-themed event. the participation was also a process for the two sides to promote communicationand integration, bai said.
companies from countries such as france, australia, nor way and germany have joined thechemchina family since the chemical giant started its internationalization process in 2006. it nowhas 48,000 overseas staff members.
pirelli & c spa, founded in 1872, is now one of the world's largest tire manufacturers with apresence in more than 160 countries and regions, providing products for both consumer andindustrial use. the company has partnerships with many of the world's premium carmakers, suchas audi, mercedes-benz, bmw, jaguar land rover and volvo.
a formula one car with pirelli tires is showcased at an exhibition during the italy-themedmonth event. provided to china daily
