There is a popular jingle in Huli District, Xiamen: “When businesses encounter difficulties, they turn to ‘Dian Xiao’er’.” This seemingly ordinary expression is firmly believed by many entrepreneurs, including Lin Tianqin, general manager of ST Aerospace Technologies (Xiamen) Co. Ltd.
Thoughtful service
As the largest sub-district on Xiamen Island, Dianqian is the “gateway” to the island, connecting Xiamen with the world. It is home to Gaoqi International Airport, Xiamen Torch Development Zone for High Technology Industries, and Xiamen Pilot Free Trade Zone. Covering approximately one-fifth of the total area of Xiamen Island, Dianqian is a sub-district with over 5.5 billion yuan ($772.9 million) of annual fiscal revenue, boasting 13 specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises that produce novel and unique products, 17 Fortune 500 companies, and nearly 50,000 market entities…
ST Aerospace Technologies (Xiamen) Co. Ltd. (STATCO), a high-tech, high growth and high value-added enterprise, is mainly engaged in commercial aircraft engine maintenance and nacelle manufacturing. Jointly established in Xiamen by ST Aerospace and Xiamen Aviation Industry Co., Ltd, STATCO has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of over 30 percent.
Lin Tianqin, general manager of STATCO, believes that the rapid growth of the company is inseparable from the careful cultivation of the local government, and “Dian Xiao’er” is a typical representative of government services in recent years.
Dian Xiao’er is a brand launched by Dianqian Sub-district, Huli District to serve local enterprises. With the core concept that “We are responsible for providing sunshine, rain and dew, while you focus on thriving”, the sub-district directly provides the enterprises within its jurisdiction with zero-distance, zero-delay, and on-call services.
Lin had the impression that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dian Xiao’ers had very close communication with him to help his company ease the burden.
“The sub-district always provides us with the latest policies in a timely manner and listens to what enterprises need and acts on it. For example, to help reduce the impact of power restriction on industrial enterprises like us, Dian Xiao’ers are ramping up coordinating and negotiating efforts to help us find solutions,” said Lin.
In 2021, due to the construction of Xiang’an Bridge, the traffic volume at the entrance of STATCO increased dramatically, posing potential safety hazards. Upon hearing the news, Dian Xiao’ers promptly contacted relevant departments and held on-site coordination meetings to help resolve problems such as traffic signs and pedestrian walkways. They also strengthened traffic supervision to ensure the travel safety of employees.
Leading by example
In the production workshop of Xiamen Yilijia Garment Co., Ltd., workers are busy on the automated hanging production line, sewing, inspecting semi-finished products, ironing, inspecting finished products, and packaging.
“In recent years, thanks to the meticulous service of Dian Xiao’ers, our company has gradually got back on track,” said Chen Jincheng, general manager of Xiamen Yilijia Garment Co., Ltd.
Xiamen Yilijia Garment Co., Ltd. is a garment processing enterprise established in April 2002. Over the past few years, due to the impact of domestic and international economic environments, the company experienced a loss of orders and faced enormous challenges in production and operation.
Dian Xiao’ers, who usually maintain close contact with businesses, visited the company as soon as they learned of its situation and encouraged it to actively develop expand domestic market through e-commerce.
Dian Xiao’ers not only provided suggestions but also took action. They contacted relevant departments in Huli District and invited the company’s executives to the MCN Industrial Base of West-Taiwan Strait Economic Zone to learn about the latest domestic livestream marketing models. They also contacted a well-known domestic e-commerce platform and invited experts to guide the company into the e-commerce sector.
With these efforts put, Xiamen Yilijia Garment confirmed a new direction and actively embraced the internet and e-commerce platforms.
There are not a few apparel companies like Xiamen Yilijia Garment. in Dianqian Sub-district, Huli District. These diverse companies are mostly small and micro businesses. They have less marked effects as leading enterprises. They face difficulties in brand operation, design, research and development, financing and business loans. Furthermore, most of them develop independently without creating a robust combined effect.
In early 2022, under the invitation of “Dian Xiao’ers”, Yang Hui, an associate professor of sportswear design at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, led a team to visit Xiamen, offering high-quality, professional one-on-one guidance to apparel companies in Dianqian sub-district. After field visits and an online survey online, Ms Yang and her team developed a general understanding of the sub-district’s garment industry. Based on their findings, they prepared a planning report on how to build a sports fashion industry ecosystem in the sub-district, providing a compass on the industry’s development.
Iconic brand
Dian Xiao’ers not only help existing businesses in the sub-district effectively resolve their difficulties in operation and development, but arouse their enthusiasm for capital increase, scale expansion, quality improvement, and efficiency promotion. Currently, Dian Xiao’ers are still working on the integration of the resources of key enterprises above the designated size in its jurisdiction, guiding key spaces in the sub-district to create an industrial cluster based on the sub-district’s advantages in high-end manufacturing, central business districts, film and television culture, and e-commerce live-streaming.
It is worth mentioning that to promote the reform and innovation in its business environment, Dianqian Sub-district launched “Dian Xiao’er” Wisdom Space this year, achieving a comprehensive upgrade of the “Dian Xiao’er” service brand. Since the beginning of this year, a total of 21 “Dian Xiao’er” events have been planned and organized for businesses, benefiting more than 3,000 people.
With meticulous services, Dian Xiao’ers have earned good reputation among enterprises and society. In 2021, the “Dian Xiao’er” brand was selected as one of top ten classic cases of grassroots government affairs and public services in Xiamen.
Xinhua Daily Telegraph published a report titled “Why do businesses in this sub-district of Xiamen always call Dian Xiao’ers when they need help?” on December 12, 2022, specifically reporting on the innovative measures taken by the grassroots government departments to create a high-quality business environment.
Dianqian Sub-district was honored as one of China’s top 10 Sub-district for Business Environment in 2023 at the 2023 Forum on Innovation and Development of International Business Environment in China held in Hainan on December 20, 2023.
The success of the “Dian Xiao’er” brand is credited to the confidence and determination of the leaderships of Dianqian Sub-district to forge ahead with enterprise and fortitude and strive for excellence, as well as the dedication and service awareness of all cadres and workers of the sub-district.
“Before the establishment of the ‘Dian Xiao’er’ brand, Dianqian Sub-district had already undergone a self-revolution, continuously improving its business environment to attract high-end factors. Regardless of the existence of the ‘Dian Xiao’er’ IP, the Sub-district has always been providing enterprises with services in a robust way,” said Zeng Guanyun, deputy director of Dianqian Sub-district Office.
In fact, the “Dian Xiaoer” brand is just the epitome of Xiamen’s continuous efforts to optimize the business environment based on what enterprises need. Over the past four decades of reform and opening-up, Xiamen has striven to be on a par with domestic benchmark cities in terms of business environment. It has identified gaps and weak links one by one, set specific reform goals, tasks, and measures in various fields, and checked the implementation of policies based on the sense of gain and satisfaction of market entities, ensuring that improvement measures resonate with the feelings of enterprises.
Today, Xiamen’s first-class business environment has become its iconic brand, continuously attracting various production factors.
“We will always be the intimate ‘Dian Xiao’er’, or service staff for ‘city partners’ with spirited enthusiasm, accurate positioning, careful cultivation, meticulous services, and pursuit of excellence. We will stay true to the mission and intensively cultivate the ‘close and clean’ government-enterprise culture that is characterized by sincerity, thoughtfulness, craftsmanship, and perseverance, so as to promote the high-quality development of the sub-district in an all-round way,” said Tang Dada, Secretary of Dianqian Sub-district Party Working Committee.