Italian student chases his dream
HEFEI — Mauro Dellisanti from Italy just changed his cover photo on WeChat to one in which he is standing in a suit against the backdrop of the recent World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei, Anhui province.
The 23-year-old is a postgraduate student majoring in Chinese economics at Fudan University in Shanghai, who now plans to start his business in China because of “the rising importance of China on the world stage and the opportunities of the Chinese market”.
Since he obtained his bachelor’s degree at the University of Glasgow in Britain, his choice to open a Chinese sales branch of Glasgow-based Android and IOS app developer, Motovate Ltd, has become his focus.
Dellisanti attended the convention held last month in Hefei in East China’s emerging manufacturing hub, to develop business contacts. According to the organizers, the four-day event brought together more than 4,000 representatives from over 60 countries and regions, including senior managers from some Global Fortune 500 companies.
By attending events, such as matchmaking conferences, Dellisanti hopes to build a network in China. “I hope to meet new people from around China, as well as representatives of international companies based in China, to tell them what we offer, get their impressions and seek future cooperation,” he says. “I think all of these objectives have been achieved.”
After spending time attaining an in-depth knowledge of China’s economy, he decided he needed to see it firsthand.
In August last year, Dellisanti arrived in Shanghai. He left the airport and was filled with joy taking a taxi to his new home. It was at that moment he “truly understood where I was and what my ambition was”.
He has now lived in China for over a year, which has changed his impression of the country, and he hoped he could help his family learn more about it.
“I try to change my friends’ and relatives’ thoughts about China, especially on the quality of infrastructure, the rise of IT companies and the support of the government for private businesses.”
For him, China represents a market with big potential for growth. He is marketing an app he designed to manage employees’ schedules.
“I believe there is a market for our product (in China), especially in hospitality, healthcare and logistics,” he says. “We will be able to better learn what the Chinese market is asking for by physically being here, so that we can adapt and improve our product.”
To achieve his dream, Dellisanti is putting more effort into learning Mandarin.
“I need to improve, because I’m going around conferences like the manufacturing convention and joining networking sessions from the chambers of commerce, mostly working on gaining contacts.”