Zhang Jianwei, president of Bombardier ChinaTony Frank
His office is closed for a state holiday, but Zhang Jianwei has no time for a day off.
With his office building shut down by security officials for a National Day parade, the 52-year-old president of Bombardier China bristles with energy as he sits in the lobby of a Beijing hotel, pausing for a moment from the endless rounds of meetings and phone calls that landed this week's $4-billion (U.S.) joint venture sale of 80 high-speed trains to China's Ministry of Railways.
It was Montreal-based Bombardier Inc.'s biggest win yet in China, and the sales coup is a major point of pride for Mr. Zhang, a notorious workaholic who speaks nonchalantly of taking calls from customers at 3 a.m. and all-night meetings.
It's all part of trying to hold off stiff competition and retain credibility in a country where business is all about face-to-face meetings and relationships.
"This is the largest order we've ever had in China and one of the largest in the world also," Mr. Zhang said in an interview Wednesday.
Though China's stimulus spending has been credited with supplying the cash flow for the trains' purchase, the work for this tender has been going on for years, he said.
"This order is partly from the stimulus package. But for me, frankly speaking, the stimulus package is not very important to this order. We are well positioned in China. Before China announced the stimulus package, we had already started work."
By the time the invitation to tender was issued on June 10, Bombardier's bid was all but down on paper; it was submitted less than a month later, on July 2.
The planning has been in the works since well before the Chinese state National Development and Reform Commission gave the Ministry of Railways permission to issue 100 billion yuan ($14.6-billion) in bonds to finance new railway construction and locomotive purchases. The first of these bonds, worth some 30 million yuan, were issued last week, with the proceeds intended to finance 32 new rail lines, including some very high-speed lines.
State media have reported that China plans to extend its rail network to 100,000 kilometres by 2020 from 76,600 km in 2006, an undertaking that is expected to cost around two trillion yuan.
The need for upgrading the country's rail system was underlined during the chaotic Chinese New Year holidays in January, 2008, when heavy snowstorms blocked trains during the year's busiest travel time and left millions of passengers stranded. Improving rail lines is also now seen as a focus for Chinese stimulus spending, improving transportation routes while supplying jobs and feeding the country's gross domestic product.
"The financial crisis sped up the government's decision making and shortened the consultation period. The government now gives more priority to projects that deliver quick economic impact. Projects related to infrastructure construction become good choices," said Liu Hui, president of Beijing's University of International Relations and a specialist in government procurement.
Prof. Liu noted that railway projects, in particular, fuel the steel, manufacturing and construction industries.
Bombardier's China joint venture group, Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd., is to supply the 80 ultrahigh-speed Zefiro trains, capable of speeds up to 380 kilometres an hour. Bombardier's share of sales is estimated at $2-billion, though Mr. Zhang conceded their bid had to be extremely competitive to ward off local companies.
State media reported that two Chinese companies, both affiliates of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp., also won contracts this week from the Ministry of Railways, together valued at 72.4 billion yuan.
"Our competition today in China is not only foreign competition. It's also Chinese competition," Mr. Zhang said.
Previously, Bombardier's largest contract in China was a 2007 deal, worth $1.5-billion, to supply 40 high-speed trains.
Observers of the Chinese government's often complicated and opaque tendering systems say Bombardier has passed some major tests in order to win this contract.
"A $4-billion deal may not be a big one at the national level, but it's still big enough for the Ministry of Railways," Prof. Liu said. "The standard for Chinese government in selecting foreign companies is, first, their advanced technology. The government will have several rounds of investigations and arguments from both experts and officials. It may take several years for the government to select a certain company."
Helping Bombardier's case are the more than 1,000 of its cars already in service, on intercity lines, urban transit systems and a high-altitude line serving the western autonomous region of Tibet.
Mr. Zhang is tight-lipped when discussing Bombardier's next deal, though he alludes to more contract discussions under way. However, he can name almost all of China's 37 cities working on urban transit plans where opportunities are likely to arise; many already boast Bombardier-made cars, propulsion systems, signalling, or some combination of the three.
"After you sign an order, you feel a little more relaxed, you feel happy - but I can't relax, because the next step is to ensure delivery," he said. "This order, I think, is a payoff of our continuous efforts and customer satisfaction. Our efforts have never stopped."
Special to The Globe and Mail