Profile of Lim Dexiang - Through the Years of Giti Group and Putian City
As one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world, Giti Tire is headquartered in Singapore and ranks among leaders in their industry. Giti provides quality tires of full range for car, SUVs, off-road vehicle, racing car, light truck, light bus, truck, bus, engineering machinery, and other vehicle models. Its products are available in more than 130 countries worldwide, and the company has been repeatedly recognized global automotive manufactureres. The tire business originally was created by the Lim family from Putian, Fujian Province in China. The famous Fujian merchant story often begins with a voyage to the lower southern seas (downward to Nanyang), and the Lim family is no exception.
The Lim family are overseas Chinese in Indonesia, with ancestry in Haixing Village, Jiangkou, Putian in Fujian Province. In the 1930s, Lim Yajin (Lim Dexiang's father) and his brothers first came to Nanyang, starting from zero to the succesful establishment of their business in Singapore. The next generation successor, Lim Dexiang, returned from overseas study and expanded assets, reviving the family business. This is a story of 80 years of hard work of the entire family. So far, Lim's Giti Group has more than $6 billion in assets, and its business scope covers industrial manufacturing, finance, investment, transportation, and real estate industries.
King of Pepper & King of Tires, a Voyage from Putian to Nanyang
Lim Yajin, the generational pioneer of Giti, was born in Haixing Village in Putian. In the 1930s, he and his brothers sailed from Sanjiangkou across the seas to Singapore for a living. The voyage to Nanyang is very challenging, and was known as a last resort for poor people who struggled to make a living. Their way of living was either hard labor, or rickshaw pulLimg, or barber business. Similar to many older generations of overseas Chinese, Lim Yajin began a small business by saving some money from hard work, diligence, and frugality. Lim Yajin and family accumulated wealth from their local pepper business. It is said that pepper originated in India, and was a valued spice in Europe in the Middle Ages, known then as "black gold." Pepper is produced in India, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere, with production in Indonesia since supassing that in India.
In the middle of the last century, the first generation of the Lim family founded "Fotaixing" in Jakarta, Indonesia, and began their rubber and tire business. In May of 1961, "Fotasing" was renamed "Gajah Tunggal Co., Ltd.". However, the first generation of the Lim family did not go on with expansion of their commercial landscape. In the mid-1960s, Lim Dexiang, a second-generation member of Lim's family, went to the United States with the hope of education in industrial and business administration. When Le Dexiang returned after graduation, his business vision and management skills had far exceeded those of his parent's generation. He first consolidated and developed the existing family trade, planting, and agricultural and product processing business. After diligent preparation, he gradually approached the consortiums in developed countries around the world, introduced funds and advanced technologies, and led the Lim family to modernizing the manufacturing industry, and later finance, real estate, and other fields. In 1973, Gajah Tunggal Co., Ltd. of Lim family was listed locally, achieving key transformation the of family business.
Reborn in homeland against hardship of financial crisis
After a solid foundation and scale was established, Lim Dexiang rapidly expanded the market to countries and regions with a stronger investment environment, building a multinational enterprise group. Gajah Tunggal Group was developed into a large group, leading in the automotive tire manufacturing industry.
In 1993, the Lim family invested in the first company in China, Anhui Giti Tire Company. By 1997, when the Asian financial storm hit the Southeast Asian economy, the political turmoil in Indonesia added pressure to the business, as well as many others. The foundation laid by two generations of Lim family needed to be reset. Fortunately, Lim Dexiang, with good vision, has arranged business layout in mainland China. With outstanding commercial talents, the family group expanded rapidly in China. After successfully investing in projects in Fujian, Anhui, and Ningxia, the family acquired 44.4% of Heilongjiang HuaLim Tire listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange under Giti Tire.
In 2004, Giti Group merged all assets in mainland China under Giti Tire (China) Investment Co., Ltd., completing the asset integration. Since then, Giti has established subsidiaries in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and elsewhere to further expand to overseas sales markets.
Developing Peripheral Industries for Business Expansion
Although the Lim Dexiang family has been hit hard by financial storms and other turmoil, the tribulations have never stopped them. They have risen from difficulties again and again, with the help of business wisdom of family business managers and long-term vision. Today, third-generation Lim successors, including Cherie Lim, have joined the family business, examining the family's future with a longer-term perspective. In addition to the famous Giti tire business of the Lim Dexiang family, the Shanghai establishment "Three on the Bund" is also very well known.
In 1997, Singapore-based Giti Group, owned by Lim Dexiang and Wu Aiqing, acquired the original Shanghai Civil Architecture Design Institute building located at the Bund 3 address, and handed it over to Michael Graves, a well-known American architect, for reconstruction. In 2004, House of Three Ltd. under Giti founded the revived location, which was officially opened in September of the same year. At present, "Three on the Bund" is managed by Cherie Lim, daughter of Lim Dexiang, who also serves as the chairman of the management company.
The first generation pioneered and the second generation thrived. Now the third generation of the Lim family has also fully participated the family business, gradually taking over its direction. Now they are looking at the future of the family with a longer-term perspective.
At present, Giti Group has six first-class tire manufacturing plants in China, Indonesia, and the US, with more than 30,000 employees and over $6 billion in group assets. In addition to tires, rims, automotive parts, and rubber products related to the automotive industry, the group also manufactures petrochemical products and industrial chemical fibers, cables and steel cords, electronic printed circuit boards, and consumer products (paper products, adult and infant diapers, tampons, etc.). The group's mineral resource industry also includes coal and gold mines, with annual production of 25 million tons and three tons respectively.
The group's retail and service business owns more than 3,000 retail stores in Indonesia, accounting for 30% -40% of the total area of Indonesian boutique shopping malls, and has franchises with more than 200 international brands (exclusive agency rights of fashion stores, sporting goods, electronic products and catering, etc., including Starbucks, Zara, Marks & Spencer Department Store, SOGO Department Store, Seibu Department Store, Paris Lafayette, and others. In China, "Three on the Bund" is located in a long-standing historical building in Shanghai, with six high-level restaurants and art galleries. In addition, the company owns retail area of about 200,000 square meters in Sanya and Danzhou department stores in Hainan.
The group's real estate business includes housing, office buildings, retail malls, industrial parks, hotels and resorts, and islands for comprehensive development. Its real estate projects are distributed in locations such as Singapore, China, Indonesia, and Australia. Meanwhile, the group's financial and insurance business includes bank property and life insurance, securities, financial companies, and funds.
Giving Back to their Roots
At the beginning of 1990, Giti Group entered China for investment and successively established offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Fuzhou, and built more than 30 projects. These include two large projects that were invested in Putian: Putian Giti Paper Co., Ltd., which was established in Jiangkou, and another project Fujian Giti Tire Co., Ltd., which was an investment in Xiushi of Xiuyu.
Fujian Putian Giti Paper Products Co., Ltd
Fujian Putian Giti Paper Products Co., Ltd specializes in the production and sales of sanitary pads, paper diapers, tissue paper, and other paper series products. Founded in 1994, the company is located in Jiangkou Town, Hanjiang District, Putian City, a nationally renowned investment area for overseas Chinese. The company has more than 300 employees, covering an area of 100,000 square meters, with registered capital of US $12 million and total investment of US $36 million. Over many years, Giti procured advanced fully automated computer-controlled equipment for paper production from Italy, Japan, and China - and imported high-quality fluff pulp from the United States, France, and other countries. Combining more than 30 years of rich experiences of sanitary products production abroad by Giti Group through advanced technology, superb technology, and scientific management, products are favored by customers around the world. With strong and consistant quality, the products have been exported to more than 30 countries, including Australia, Indonesia, South Korea and Papua New Guinea, building a brand enterprise with good reputation and wide influence.
Fujian Giti Tire Co., Ltd., established in Putian by Giti Group (Singapore)
Fujian Giti Tire Co., Ltd., covers an area of 1230 mu (1 mu=0.0667 hectares), with an initial investment of US $180 million, broke ground on August 8, 1996. And the foundation of the main plant building was officially laid on December 18. After three years of construction, Giti Tire Factory produced the first tire on October 1, 1999, and now produces more than 30,000 PCR tires per day. The products are sold to more than 80 countries and regions including North America, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Giti Tire Factory is one of the largest foreign-invested enterprises in Putian City. Its commision makes Xiuyu District a tire production base.
Li Yufu, Lim Dexiang's mother, has donated to public welfare undertakings in his hometown since 1965. Mr. Lim Dexiang inherits his parents' fine tradition of loving townships, generously donates huge funds, supports various public welfare undertakings such as schools, infrastructure, Putian College, Municipal Disabled Persons' Fund, and Civilian Hospital in his hometown. And his charity deeds for township are widely praised in overseas Chinese hometowns. His mother Ms. Li Hofu, and Mr/Mrs Lim Dexiang, were awarded the Golden Medal and plaques of "Cultivating Talent" and "Advancing Medicine and Benefiting the Public" by the People's Government of Fujian Province, and won the title of "Honorary Citizen of Putian City".
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