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<h1>State Grid breaks down expats' language barrier</h1>
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<span class="gmail-name">Li Xinran</span>
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<span class="gmail-glyphicon gmail-glyphicon-time"></span> 14:59 UTC+8, 2018-03-12
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<a href="https://www.shine.cn/PudongNewArea/" style="text-decoration:none"><img src="https://www.shine.cn/files/coverage/2017/07/12/7c63c53a-d202-45a4-a59d-17b2215b346c.jpg"><div class="gmail-title">Pudong New Area</div></a>
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<div class="gmail-source">Ti Gong</div>
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<p>Pudong, where thousands of foreign-funded firms, R&D centers and
manufacturing plants locate, is also where a great proportion of foreign
residents in Shanghai live. It means there are many extended functions
for international living with a huge array of tailored services and
offerings for expats.</p><p>The State Grid Pudong Power Supply Company,
at 111 Pudian Road, is one of many Pudong-based public services that
serve the expats.</p><p>A team of young clerks at the company, mainly
women, speak English, German, French and Japanese and extend a warm
welcome to the foreigners, offer details about power supply services and
help them complete any application forms.</p><p>The Pudong power supply
company and its business hall are only steps away from the core area of
Lujiazui Financial City, where foreign-funded enterprises reside and
overseas businesspeople work and live.</p><p>They usually visit the
business hall to pay their bills and ask questions, such as details of
the power supply policy and the rates.</p><p>The young clerks behind the counters always explain the policy and answer the questions in different languages patiently.</p><p>“Hallo, Sind Sie Fran Qu?” (“Hello, are you Fran Qu?”)</p><p>Qu
Zhiyin, who once studied in Germany, answered the phone. She
immediately recognized it was from a German woman who had visited her
counter two weeks earlier.</p><p>The German woman had enquired about the
amount of money she needed to pay and talked to her interpreter in
front of Qu’s counter.</p><p>Qu then spoke to the woman in German. The
woman was surprised to find a German speaker at the business hall, which
led to a warm talk between the two and they eventually exchanged
contact details. Qu arranged a meter inspection for the woman
immediately.</p><p>After that the woman called Qu to say the meter was in good condition but she still thought the amount was too high.</p><p>Qu
explained that the summer in Shanghai is much hotter than in Germany
and long hours of aircon operation, while the windows were open, would
lead to a large bill.</p><p>Qu suggested closing the windows while switching on the air conditioners for another month and checking the bill again.</p><p>“Danke! Danke!” (Thank you! Thank you!)” the woman replied, satisfied with Qu’s answer.</p><p>Qu’s colleague, Wan Jialin, learns Japanese at her spare time, which helps her communicate with Japanese customers.</p><p>“Hello, what can I do for you?” Wan asked a Japanese customer who studied his bill at the counter.</p><p>The
Japanese man didn’t understand the amount on the bill, which involved
three different rates. Wan explained to him in Japanese that Shanghai
launched a tiered pricing for electricity in 2012 and there is a
progressive increase in rates. The Japanese man’s bill revealed that his
power consumption had hit the third tier and that was why the amount
was higher than the previous two months.</p><p>The man expressed his gratitude to Wan in Japanese.</p><p>Qu
and Wan are just two members of the multi-lingual team that also speak
French and English. The team has since drawn up a table in English
explaining the tiered pricing system to better serve expats who live in
Pudong.</p><p><br></p>
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<div class="gmail-source">Ti Gong</div>
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<div class="gmail-caption"><p>The State Grid Pudong company speeds up
infrastructure construction. The company has taken various efforts to
better serve the expats working and living in the new area, which is
home to thousands of foreign residents and enterprises.</p></div>
<p>The State Grid is also developing an English version of its mobile
app. Meanwhile, the Pudong company has decided to send team members to
work with account managers at Pudong-based industrial parks to better
serve foreign-funded enterprises and startups there.</p><p>“From this
month, they will visit companies door to door in Zhangjiang to provide
them tailored power supply solutions and explain the policy,” said Qu
Qing, vice director of the Pudong company’s sales department. “Lingang
will be the next stop.”</p><p>What they are doing is part of the State Grid as well as Pudong’s effort to improve business environment.</p><p>Pudong
has established a seamless integrated approval procedure for foreign
investment approval certificates, business licenses, organization code
certificates, tax registration certificates, pre-approved food
circulation permits, customs registration certificates, and permits for
stamping, casting and printing operations.</p><p>The Pudong company will
extend its service to the stage to help foreign-founded startups get
their power supply solution as early as the projects are filed.</p><p>“We
hope our service will be integrated in the approval procedure so that
we can offer our solutions at an early stage,” said Qu Qing.</p><p>As a consequence, Qu Zhiyin, Wan Jialin and their colleagues are expected to play bigger roles in the process.</p></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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