“To forget one’s ancestors is to be a book without a source, a tree without a root." Chinese Proverb The World Jinjiang Youth Association (WJYA) recently celebrated its 9th year Anniversary and Induction Ceremony held at Jinjiang, a county level city of Quanzhou City in Fujian Province, China. The three day celebration saw more than 600 members from 28 countries coming over to reconnect with its hometown roots as well as their fellow members.A twenty-two member delegates from Anvil, all tracing its roots in Jinjiang, flew in to engage in the festivities. Jinjiang: An Economic Powerhouse of Fujian Province Jinjiang has been consistently ranked No. 1 county with the highest GDP in Fujian province for fifteen years and ranked top 10 richest county in China. It is home to many factories engaged in apparel, shoes, food, etc. Many companies have been listed in the stock exchange, some of the notable ones are ANTA, biggest sports apparel brand and Powerlong, real estate developer of commercial properties.
Friendship and Reconnection The three day celebration began with the welcome reception of around 600 delegates from 28 countries and the commemorative celebration of outgoing WJYA President Xu Qing Liu three year term, who vigorously spearheaded the reconnection of overseas Jinjiang Chinese in various countries. Philippines in the past had the least members, it is now one of the bigger contingent with twenty-nine participants, twenty-two from Anvil and seven from Philippine Jinjiang Youth Association. The highlights of the event featured the turnover ceremony and welcoming the new president, Mr. Xu Hua Fang, CEO of Powerlong Real Estate Holding Co. Ltd. Mr. Hua Fang, in his mid 30’s, Mr. Hua Fang is leading one of the biggest real estate development company in China. Powerlong is into the development of large scale, premium commercial complexes across mainland China. The company was honoured as one of the top 50 real estate developers and top 10 real estate commercial developers in China. The trip included business tours to ANTA and A&Z Capital whose founders are both from Jinjiang. ANTA, a publicly listed sports apparel company, is now the largest sports apparel company in Asia. The company considers itself a sports science laboratory, focusing on innovative ways of producing sports apparel that will aid in improving the athlete’s performance. Among its endorsers are NBA players like Klay Thompson and Rajon Rondo and Philippine’s boxing legend Manny Paquiao. A&Z Capital is one of the fastest growing venture capitalist companies in China. Located in Xiamen, it has now successfully invested and launched 46 start up companies with 6 of them publicly listed in the stock exchange. The founders of ANTA and A&Z Capital both started in their early 20’s and have successfully catapulted their companies in the 30’s. The amazing speed of success is certainly worthy of emulation. Anvil is about forging ties and friendships. With the establishment of relations with WJYA, the members have not only established friendships with successful young entrepreneurs all over the world but also reconnected with their ancestral roots.
