People’s Daily Online: I think there is a new movie launched in San Francisco. I think it is called Shanghai Calling. What is it about and how did people react to this film in San Francisco?
Mayor: I got to see this premiere in San Francisco. It is a story of a lawyer in New York City, who is Chinese American, more American than Chinese, who was assigned to go and do some legal business in Shanghai. So he is called by his law firm, at the beginning. He had no interest in doing this, but it is a major client, he must go and conduct business, then he realizes that he doesn’t understand his own culture as an American born Chinese that he resists that. He encountered a lot of expatriates in Shanghai, who informed him about life overseas and he begins to understand the clash as well as the compliments of the culture.
Through the medium of the story, it allows humor and passion to explain some of the culture clashes and some of the business clashes that has occurred several decades.
I found many friends in the audience who have done business and are doing business in Shanghai and Beijing, they laughed very hardly, because some of the themes and encounters are very real, whether is misunderstanding of language or one business culture does not match with the other business culture, these practices are all exposed.
Our council general of China for the city of San Francisco also watched the movie with me, and he believes that the Shanghai Calling would be the first in many exchanges of film and hopes that there can be a follow up movie perhaps named San Francisco Answering.
People’s Daily Online: Speaking of cooperation, what do you think are the most attractive points for Chinese companies to start cooperation with ChinaSF?
Mayor: First of all, they can learn from coming to our offices and getting the information that they need. They can have the idea of green technology or a small business; we can assist them through ChinaSF. For example, as the mayor of San Francisco, I do not only depend upon the ChinaSF office. They are directly connected to the Mayor’s office of small business and enterprises in San Francisco. We assist any business from any country, whether is China or Japan, or Korea or Europe, we assist them in how to get all of their permits which to legally operate, to understand the local tax system, and to gain the understanding the real-estate advantages of location.
We also introduce them to associate with businesses that are similar to theirs, so they become part of the business fabric. All of these contribute to their quick associating themselves with other business of similar type, so that is a good understanding of what ChinaSF does.
In addition, we would like the business not only to start in San Francisco, but to stay and grow. We will work with them on how to increase the workforce, how to make sure the wage system and employee benefits are consistent with the American regulations that allowed them to be more successful. We are very investor-friendly in San Francisco, we want to have the business to succeed, to see through not only the beginning, but future generations of the business being successful.
Life aboard a fishing boat under bridge in city of Chongqing
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