By staff reporter SUN LI

Fu Tianzhu, general manager of the Jianguo Hotel.

The opening of the Jianguo Hotel in 1982 marked China's first Sino-foreign joint venture and the gearing up of its hotel industry to the international market.

In the 22 years since it opened the Jianguo Hotel has generated 1.084 billion yuan in profits and taxes - almost 30-fold its initial investment.

The Jianguo Hotel has won 28 international awards including the International Golden Hotel Award, the International Quality Gold Award, the International Tourism Hotel and the Catering Trade Quality Gold Award. It has won the Capital Tourism Zijin Cup - the Beijing tourism industry's top award, seven times.

The Jianguo Hotel is outstanding for its achievements and sustained advancement within the fiercely competitive hotel industry. I interviewed General Manager Fu Tianzhu in the hotel coffee shop.

CT: The Jianguo Hotel is a milestone in the history of China's hotel industry. How was it first conceived?

Fu: Our hotel has undergone three stages of development. Until the 1980s, China lacked international hotels. Hence, on approval from Deng Xiaoping and other top leaders, China's first Sino-foreign joint venture hotel, the Jianguo opened in 1982. The internationally famous Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel Management Group introduced us to a brand-new management mode of employment contracts, a scientific organizational setup, and autonomy in levying room rates. Implementation of these new measures was hugely successful, and in 1985 the China National Tourism Administration issued a circular to 50 hotels advising them to learn from the Jianguo's experience. This became a hotel industry trend and marked the first stage of Jianguo's development.

The second stage was in 1988, when Jianguo management was taken over by the Chinese side under the leadership of general manager Li Zhonggen, now vice-president of Beijing Travel Group (BTG).

On establishing the Jianguo International Management Group, now China's second largest state-owned hotel management group, we achieved the final stage of development, which was making the Jianguo Hotel internationally known. Through exporting our management expertise, we now administer more than 40 star-rated hotels and holiday villages.

CT: How does the Jianguo stay ahead in view of the fierce competition generated by China's 10,000 other star-rated hotels?

Fu: China's hotel industry was the first to gear up to international norms. We win guests through scientific management techniques and excellent service. For instance, in China hotel guests normally pay their room tariffs on a daily basis, but we broke this convention for the convenience of our guests, who now settle their accounts on checking out. We also keep records of each guest's preferences, for instance, a slice of lemon in drinking water, a particular morning paper, or a type of tea. This is all aimed at making our guests feel at home.

We receive nearly 50,000 guests annually, and have been patronized by foreign dignitaries such as Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, former US president Jimmy Carter, former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke, and former US Secretary of State George P. Shultz, all of whom commended our service. More than 60 percent of our guests return to us, which in the hotel industry is nothing short of a miracle.

CT: What are your management priorities?

Fu: First, to make clear that our guests are number one. Second, to look after our employees. The hotel industry is a labor-intensive industry in which each employee is a vital component. We therefore care for, respect and nurture each of them. In recent years more than 100 of our employees have been appointed general managers of other hotels. We thus train talents for the Jianguo and the whole hotel industry.

CT: What is your next step?

Fu: We aim to make the Jianguo flagship of the Jianguo Management Group by implementing international standardization and building up its image.

Fu Tianzhu is vice-president of the Beijing Tourism Hotel Association, and has been in the industry for nearly 30 years. He started In the 1970s as receptionist at the China Travel Service. In the years following he worked as deputy general manager of the Hotel Beijing-Toronto (Jinglun), deputy general manager of the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel, deputy general manager of the Beijing Hotel, and general manager of the Chinese side of the China World Hotel Beijing. He has been general manager of Jianguo Hotel since 2001.