Multicultural packaging

The French and Chinese may be poles apart in terms of language and culture, but Jean-Baptiste Dabadie, a French businessman based in Hong Kong, has been able to break down the barriers. Running a team of 200 mainland Chinese staff at his Shenzhen packing business has helped.

Dabadie came to Hong Kong in 2001 to work as an intern at Asiapack, which was then owned by three French businessmen. The business had a 50,000 square feet factory in Shenzhen.

The six-month internship ended up as a career, and Dabadie has adopted Hong Kong as his second home for his wife and two children. He became the 100 per cent owner of Asiapack three years ago.

Dabadie, who does not speak Putonghua or read Chinese, has ably managed his 200 staff, who are mainly local Chinese. The key to success, he says, is to treat his staff fairly and to have good communications.

His company manufactures packaging materials and offers co-packing services for brands covering cosmetics, mobile phone accessories, toys and other retail products. Clients are from Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific.

In his office in North Point, he spoke with the South China Morning Post to explain how he broke through the language and culture barrier.