Matching Finnish and Chinese business interests might sound like a handful, but Shiting Chen is up to the challenge. Her first impression of Finland almost ten years ago was the classic image: white and quiet. Now she knows that beneath the cool exterior lies a hotbed of innovation. And Chinese companies are interested.
Shiting’s Finnish employer, China-Finland 
Golden Bridge, is an organization that focuses on attracting Chinese investments to Finland. The spectrum of Shiting’s job is wide: business concept development, consulting, marketing and taking care of customer relationships, to name a few. The aim is to help Chinese companies to identify business opportunities in Finland.
“We both help Chinese companies to set up a business in Finland and introduce Chinese venture capital investors to Finnish companies”, she summarizes.
In Shiting’s opinion, Finland’s strongest reserves are in the innovation resources. In China, the business life is not yet mature enough to support innovation and they have to look for it elsewhere. China’s competitive edge in low labor costs is shrinking and the next strategy is cultivating innovation. Chinese companies are already encouraged to look for and invest in innovation.
Shiting sees that Chinese companies have also become to appreciate the Finnish work mentality. “In China, organizations tend to be more hierarchical and authoritative than in Finland”, she says. “Here in Finland people have more freedom and consequently more responsibility at work, which leads to people being self-disciplined and self-organizing. Finnish honesty and efficiency have received extremely positive feedback from Chinese business people.”
Shiting Chen helps Chinese companies to find business opportunities in Finland. Picture: Mikko Käkelä.
About Golden Bridge:
China-Finland Golden Bridge Innovation Center helps Chinese hi-tech players in finding innovation and growth possibilities in Finland and the European Union, while helping Finnish hi-tech players connect with the right partners in China. Established in 2010, Golden Bridge is funded by the Ministry of the Employment and the Economy and Greater Helsinki Promotion, the investment promotion agency for Greater Helsinki.
www.goldenbridge.fi
