China Minmetals Corporation is China's largest supplier of raw materials to the metallurgical industry and also the country’s largest steel trading company. It is one of the Fortune Global 500.
Here, Sun Han shares his views on working in a state-owned enterprise, and offers advice to business students graduating in today’s tougher job market.
How many years have you been in your company? What exactly do you do?
I have been working here since 2005. I’m really enjoying it. I’m learning a lot about the industry: ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The headache is that I’m working at the headquarters of the company, which means I have no opportunities to deal with specific projects, but I still need to make a deep financial analysis of each project.
How do you see the future of your company and your industry as a whole in China?
Both the company and the metallurgical industry have great prospects in China. There’s great demand for metal resources in China. The industry is very important to the nation’s development.
As the leader within the metallurgical industry, China Minmetals Corporation is growing at every link in the supply chain: resource supplies, logistics work, trading.
As a state-owned company, do you think Minmetals benefits a lot from the government-controlled system in the Chinese market?
At an earlier stage of its development Minmetals was, in accordance with the planned economy, under government control. It contributed a lot to the nation's industrial modernization.
Since the economic reform 30 years ago, the Chinese market has been shifting towards a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. In order to compete, China Minmetals Corporation is becoming more self-managed and competitive. It is becoming a modern international company: more multifunctional, with an increasing range of services.
Government control is not that great anymore. The growth of the company depends mostly on its own ability to operate and manage. The government only gives a certain amount of guidance as a part of macroeconomic policy and industrial policy.
What stands out from your time working abroad?
China Minmetals Corporation was the first state-owned company in China to go abroad. It has branches throughout the world, for example in the UK, the USA, Germany, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, India, Brazil, Singapore, and Korea.
Internationalization offers a great platform for sharing resources, skills, capital and talent. It also gives us opportunities to learn from each other. My secondments to different countries (the UK, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Chile and Argentina) were really interesting.
I did a lot of internal audit and liquidation abroad and found that their working rhythm and accounting and tax systems are so different. However, I enjoyed working there because I learned a lot from different cultures and different teams.
What advice do you have for business students graduating now?
I think finding a job is similar to finding a wife or husband. You need to meet an employer's requirements. However, business is business, and it is very important to find a good opportunity as a starting point. Especially for new graduates, a good start can have a significant influence on the rest of their careers.
As for business students, they need to face the fierce competition to excel, while at the same time enjoy the opportunities. From 2003 to 2008, China experienced extreme economic development and a dramatic increase in job opportunities. Thanks to this golden period, I found my first job easily in 2005 after I left university.
I’d suggest to new graduates that they need to find as much work experience as they can when they are still at university. Internships and work experience would definitely help you a lot, not only on your CV, but also in terms of your business skills and interpersonal skills.
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