IN Jens Jepsen's office, he has hung his favourite pictures taken on top of Mount Kilimanjaro when he was 60 years old. Next to the photographs is an old world map he discovered in a bookstore.

Climbing the highest mountain in Africa is demanding for people of any age but the energetic Danish businessman has always been willing to take up challenges and adventures anywhere in the world.

However, the vice-president of Danfoss China feels it was more challenging when he set out as a pioneer in the Chinese market in March 1996.

"When I was assigned to China at the age of 56 years old, I had had no relations with China. I knew no Chinese and had no plans to come to China, even as a tourist," said Jepsen.

His only understanding of China came from an encyclopedia which introduced him to the scientific technologies and mathematics of ancient China. The senior engineer was amazed by great innovations and advanced scientific technologies in ancient China but he was more eager to know why the country had lagged so far behind in the past several centuries.

As the senior manager of Danfoss, a century-old family business in Denmark, he seemed to be the right person to explore the business opportunities of the vast Chinese market, utilizing his experience of building new branches in various other countries.

Hard beginning

"You know, life was not so easy for a foreigner in Shanghai back in 1996, especially for a person who couldn't speak nor understand a word of Chinese," he said.

Jepsen's first lesson was to buy curtains on Nanjing Xilu (the main business centre). He and his wife paid the bill immediately in the store but no one went to their home to fit the curtains. Jepsen learnt the lesson and next time paid 50 per cent at the counter and the rest when staff from the store fitted the curtain.

It took Jepsen and his wife three months to settle down and get to know the new city, one completely different from all the Western cities in which they had lived previously.

Danfoss' business even had a harder beginning in China because the company, although it has factories in four continents and about 100 branch offices around the world, was a late arrival in China.

Danfoss is listed in the top 100 companies by Forbes and is a leader in heating systems, motion control products and refrigerators. But it seemed to be unknown in China because the market share was dominated by other big international competitors.

"The clients were very familiar with some big companies such as Ericsson but they had never heard of Danfoss," said Jepsen. Still, he believed that Danfoss' products with their high quality and service would be accepted in the Chinese market.

His 30-year experience in the business told him that his first job in opening the Chinese market was to set up a highly efficient team and seek good agencies. So he travelled all around China to inspect and negotiate with agencies and he interviewed every employee in the Shanghai branch.

"People need passion. For a good beginning, you can't just work eight hours a day - you need maybe 12 hours a day," Jepsen said.

Business success

After eight months, Jepsen's hard work achieved success as Danfoss signed the first contract with a well-known agency whose network covers the whole of China. By then, Jepsen was fully confident of being able to reach the goal set by the Danfoss CEO - to make profits within four years. Actually, Danfoss began to make profits within three and half years in China.

"I should say that the business is excellent. It's grown about tenfold compared with the very beginning," said Jepsen. In seven years, the company's Shanghai office has expanded from one room to a whole floor with the number of employees increasing from four to 62.

Despite the intense competition in China, Jepsen is optimistic about the future of the market as China's economy maintains rapid progress. "More people will buy Danfoss products because when they have more money to spend they need a more comfortable life," said Jepsen.

"In northern China, the heating system is popular while in Southern China, an increasing number of middle-class people are loving air-conditioners in the summer."

Jepsen regards his broad working experience in Danfoss - acquired in various departments from company headquarters to the foreign branch offices in America and Germany - as being very helpful to his work.

"I have formed wide network in the whole company and I have especially good guanxi (connections) with the company's top leaders. Such advantages help my work in a foreign country quite a lot. If I have some problems, I just pick up the phone and the matter can be settled within a few minutes," he said.

Magnolia Prize

In Jepsen's Chinese name, there is a character "sheng" which means Shanghai. He is very satisfied with the name because he regards himself as an ordinary citizen of Shanghai.

Danfoss employees call Jepsen "Laoye" which indicates the close and intimate relationship between the boss and his staff. "Laoye is really a nice boss. On the eve of the Spring Festival (China's most important festival), he drove the car himself to take me home," said one employee, surnamed Zhang.

Jepsen and his wife Kate have fully immersed themselves in city life and have developed a deep affection for Shanghai which they have come to regard as another hometown.

"The city's development is amazing. There are changes everyday. If you take a two weeks business trip outside the city, you may find the city is different by the time you get back. The city is always doing something different - just look at the park lands in the downtown area."

Once Jepsen found a water pipe leaking on the road when he and his wife were out jogging one morning. He later asked his driver to call the local government about it. The next day when they were out jogging again, he stopped to check the damage and found the pipe hadn't been repaired. So he asked the driver to call again.

Apart from such small civic actions, Jepsen is always active in putting forward suggestions about the city planning and development.

And he is also making efforts to improve communication and business between Shanghai and his Danish compatriots.

In recognition of his great contribution to Shanghai, he was recently awarded the "Magnolia Prize" by the Municipal Government.