Busy businessman drinks to a healthy career

Zhang Yang

Szabolcs Szajp is getting used to working for three companies at the same time, even though it means irregular work hours and countless business trips.

The 42-year-old from Hungary has lived in Shenzhen for seven years since arriving in 2008 to study Chinese at Shenzhen University. In 2009, after a short leave, he returned to Shenzhen to help Hungarian exhibitors at the annual China (Shenzhen) Hi-Tech Fair.

In 2010, Szajp joined the Shenzhen branch of CBC Hungary Co. Ltd., a Hong Kong-registered company that facilitates Hungarian companies’ business on the Chinese mainland. Since then Szajp has traveled frequently to cities in Guangdong and Zhejiang to visit Chinese suppliers for his Hungarian clients, inspecting goods and ensuring delivery.

Last year he started working as the Shenzhen representative of the Hungarian Federation of Winecraftsmen, a Hungarian wine provider in China. Now as a co-owner of an electronic company, Szajp purchases electronics in Shenzhen for the company to sell back in Hungary.

As a wine dealer, Szajp noticed that drinking is considered a way of socializing in China.

“It’s not just a drinking culture. It’s a business culture in China actually,” he said, adding that some of his business partners said “first let’s be friends, and then we do business,” making him realize drinking in China is often part of making friends.

Szajp mentioned another Hungarian businessman who has been selling wine in China for over five years.

“He believes Chinese people have much more talent for tasting wine,” Szajp said, adding that it may be because Chinese cuisine is diverse and makes Chinese people familiar with a wide range of flavors.

After countless business trips, Szajp said he likes Shenzhen because it’s a city where new ideas grow into thriving businesses. He said CBC Hungary is helping Hungarian companies with environmental protection technology to enter the Chinese market by getting pilot projects in Shenzhen. “Many cities in China concentrate on what’s happening in Shenzhen,” he said.