I Brought Italy to China. Now I'm Bringing China Back to Italy
"In life, besides being capable, you have to be lucky and find yourself in the right place at the right time." For Francesco Zhou Fei, 36 years old, born in China but in Italy since he was a small child, this maxim is quite apt. He graduated from Bocconi in Business Administration in 2005, and was recently chosen as general manager for MiStore Italia, the company managing the stores of Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi in our country.
«When I graduated, it was the time when Italian and European companies were setting up shop in China. I got hired by CRIF, a Bolognese company that manages credit risk that wanted to set up a joint venture in Beijing. Since I speak both Italian and Chinese, I seized on the opportunity and moved there." This happened in 2008, and Francesco then remained in China for ten years, earning an MBA from Peking University and launching a technological start-up with some university colleagues, although the business didn't succeed.
Meanwhile, however, the wind has been changing and it's now Chinese companies that are looking into ways to expand in Europe, including Italy. "I was presented with the opportunity of creating the Italian retail network of Xiaomi, a young but rapidly growing company, known for its smartphones but which actually produces everything, even electric scooters," says Francesco, "and I jumped on it on the fly. Last year we opened the first store in the Arese shopping mall and it's been an incredible success. Now we have ten stores in Italy, and about 200 employees». Xiaomi's trademark is quality at affordable prices; the company is now the world's fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer, with a comparable presence in the Italian market, at a time when the perception of Chinese products is changing profoundly. "No longer cheap, low-quality items, but sophisticated technology at affordable prices".
In the fall, Francesco will expand his business reach by opening the first Italian store of Niu Scooters, "a company listed on NASDAQ which is considered the Tesla of electric mopeds", he explains. In all this fervor of initiatives, Bocconi has played an important part:"It is at Bocconi that I fundamentally developed the international bent of my career. It was I who started the Beijing Chapter of the Bocconi Alumni Community and in general, even now that I have returned to Italy, I continue to participate in the activities of the various Asian chapters: a truly unique array of initiatives and events. When I happen to talk about it with colleagues who graduated from other universities, they are amazed by our international alumni network."