Sun Shouping:Champion of China’s Railways Overseas

By staff reporter ZHOU LIN

ON September 3， 2015， a ground-breaking ceremony marking the building of the CRRC Corporation Limited manufacturing center was held in Springfield， Massachusetts in the United States， where the pioneering Chinese railroad engineer Zhan Tianyou， or Tien Yow Jeme （1861-1919）， once studied. Sun Shouping， vice director of the international business division of CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicle Co.， Ltd.， assistant president and marketing director of CRRC MA Corporation， witnessed the historical moment.

My First Overseas Project

“I have wept many times because of the great pressure and anxiety that comes with my job. But my devotion to the work encourages me to persist until contracts are signed. I always feel proud when new purchase orders are secured with the foreign market，” said Sun Shouping when recalling her 12 years of overseas sales experience.

Sun has been in charge of negotiation and execution of multiple projects in Iran， Turkey， Mexico， Argentina， Thailand， Malaysia， and Indonesia， and has successfully sold 1，200 “Made in China”vehicles in her career with an accumulated contract volume of over US $2 billion， accounting for 40 percent of the companys whole overseas sales.

“I will never forget the first project I independently fulfilled， the 105-vehicle subway project in Tehran，” she said. In 2003， Tehrans subway project was the companys sole overseas contract. The project introduced brand new products featuring updated international technical standards in Iran， and the core systems were all imported. It was an unprecedented challenge for the company from project management and implementation to foreign subcontracting and process control. Sun Shouping took charge of a total of 15 contracts for imported systems.

Every day， Sun hustled between the financial department and warehouse， busy with payments， taking delivery of goods， checking materials， account clearing， and negotiating with subcontractors.

Diligent and smart， Sun Shouping soon discovered the disparities between Chinese companies and foreign enter- prises. She created a statistical management system for contracts to maintain a well-organized program.

“Learning from foreign companies， I made our own styled Non-Conformance Report （NCR） to settle common disputes in the subcontracting process and insisted on its execution in our company. From then on， the time taken to rectify defective products was significantly reduced， which boosted the efficiency of claim settlements，” Sun Shouping said， explaining that she felt she had “grown up” together with the project.

Sun began a new chapter of her career after the completion of the Tehran subway project， and quickly became a mature manager through marketing overseas programs in Iran， Turkey， Mexico， Argentina， Thailand， Malaysia， and Indonesia.

Failure not an Option

Sun Shouping said that her rich experience taught her how to deal with all kinds of difficulties.

In 2007， when the company signed the contract for the Mashad project with Iran， it failed to secure the letter of guarantee in time. Thus， the program， which took them three years to plan， was aborted. The contract owner was so dis-appointed that they decided to look for other suppliers from Europe and Russia.

But， as project manager， Sun Shouping could not give up so easily. After repeatedly studying and evaluating the political situation and market demand in Iran， she was determined to find the solution. After half a year of effort， she was able to persuade the project owner to sign the contract again. On the day of signature， she personally set out on the journey to the bank in Tehran.

“I rushed to Iran with the counter guarantee sheet issued by the domestic bank and pressed the contract owner in Tehran to speed up the process. Meanwhile， I had to telephone leaders of different departments of my company and ask my domestic colleagues to modify the content and format and then send me the final version of all required materials.” Sun Shouping recalled the great stress and anxiety she felt， which caused mental and physical troubles. It was a blessed relief when she finally saw the approved letter of guarantee.

“The moment that the contract worth US $160 million formally came into effect meant that China had successfully exported the first light rail train to an overseas market. CRRC thus transformed from assembling and exporting other countries products to becoming the manufacturer itself，” Sun Shouping said.

From then on， Sun and her colleagues won a series of metro bidding projects， from Bangkok subway vehicles in 2007， Hong Kong in 2008， and Rio de Janeiro in 2009.

Tough Challenges

On October 22， 2014， CNR MA Corporation （now renamed CRRC MA Corporation） was authorized by Mass DOT and formally announced its successful bid to supply to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority （MBTA） 284 heavy rail rapid transit cars for Bostons“T” system， with a total value of US $567 million. In addition， CRRC publicized its plan to build its first assembly factory in North America， with an investment of US $66 million， in Springfield City of Massachusetts State.

“It was the most unforgettable experience to achieve success on the American market.” Sun Shouping felt immensely proud at this initial success of Chinas rail transit equipment manufacturing enterprises and Chinas high-end manufacturing sector in charting the waters of the American market. It was a pivotal step for Chinese enterprises to invest and do business with European and American developed countries.

Sun and her team had fully prepared for such a significant deal. In 2009， CRRC formulated the latest development strategy， according to which Sun was nominated as responsible for marketing in the United States. “Although the American market seemed far away， I was determined to accept the challenge， and our team began to do research on the distinctive demands of the American market. It included American technical standards， system suppliers investiga- tion/connection and purchase strategies， and professional knowledge on ‘Buy American Act and ‘WMBE （Women/ Minority Business Enterprises program）. All were unprecedented areas in the domestic market，” Sun Shouping recalled.

She admitted that facing a new market in a developed country challenged her confidence， but four years of persistent study and research as well as the large-scale and long-term high risk investment enabled the whole team to fight to the end.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority （MBTA） formally invited public bids in 2013. In the short six-month bidding period， Sun Shouping organized two teams both in China and the U.S. to cooperate， and eventually won the bid. However， the success heralded the start of difficulties. In October 2014， the American party raised a distinctive requirement： The contractor was required to submit the letter of guarantee and legal opinion as well as “Buy American Act” compliance censorship. They would then sign the final contract which would signal the official start of the project. And amid all these efforts， the Chinese party also faced strong competition from the Korean， Japanese， and Canadian bidders， and was at risk of lawsuits in both the federal and Massachusetts court. The toughest challenge facing Sun Shoupings team was to address the problem in due time and give no opportunities to other competitors.

Sun Shouping immediately organized a domestic team and gained help from Chinese and American lawyers， accounting institutes， and banks to run a relay race between New York， Boston， Beijing， Shanghai， and Changchun. Sun said she was working almost 24 hours a day updating the latest news， following up the previous work， ensuring everyone understood the preparations， and preparing for any minor mistakes or glitches in the process. Sun threw herself so wholeheartedly into the work that her family members worried about her health.

Sun Shouping recalled the moment she saw media coverage of the story of Chinas vehicles sold to the American market – she was overcome with pride and joy.