Laurence Yuen FCMA: authorised representative and joint company secretary, Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels (Group).
| Position | ONE2ONE - Cover story |
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What does your job involve and what's at the top of your agenda at the moment?
I joined Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels (Group) last year when it was preparing for an H-share listing--ie, the flotation of a mainland company on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The principal shareholder is Jin Jiang International. which is controlled by the Shanghai state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Hong Kong operates under what's known as the common-law system, which is distinct from that of the rest of China. Its listing rules require the issuer to appoint a company secretary and qualified accountant as a member of the senior management team to oversee financial reporting procedures, internal controls and compliance. The appointee must obtain the appropriate professional memberships recognised for these purposes.
Much of my time is taken up with our many compliance responsibilities, because we have a presence in different jurisdictions with a subsidiary listed separately on the Shanghai stock exchange. All notices, results announcements and circulars of the listed subsidiary have to be published in Hong Kong. I edit all corporate notifications and oversee the compilation of our annual and interim reports and accounts. I'm also partly responsible for investor relations.
My role is fairly autonomous and I co-operate with external professionals, such as our compliance adviser, lawyers and auditors. It gives me the chance to participate in processes such as reorganisations, non-competition agreements and due diligence. Other projects that I've recently been involved in include signing agreements with Fairmont to co-manage its landmark heritage building, the Peace Hotel, and with the Swatch Group (Hong Kong) to renovate the Peace Palace Hotel as an arts centre and flagship store for international watch brands.
How big is your organisation?
According to Hotels magazine's latest ranking of the 300 biggest hotel companies in the world, we had the 17th-largest number of rooms (53.552) last year. We have a workforce of about 18.000 and the accounting and finance department has about 950 employees.
What are the key trends in China's hotel industry?
The number of international arrivals is growing rapidly--we recorded a compounded average growth rate of 10.4 per cent from 1990 to 2004. China will be the world's most popular holiday destination by 2020, according to the World Tourism...
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