Ms Wang Qiu's unassuming appearance belies a spirit of quiet determination - a quality that has seen the engineer through a two decade-long career spanning the construction and real estate sectors.
As Liaoning-born Wang, chief executive of the manager of Dasin Retail Trust, says: "Through life, you will face many challenges. The key is not to shy away from difficulties. There's always a solution to every problem."
Ms Wang, 43, began her career in 1999 with Zhongshan Sheng Xing, a curtain wall manufacturer within the Zhongshan Dasin Holdings group of companies, which is the sponsor of Dasin Retail Trust.
It proved to be a high-pressure job. She says: "I spent 10 years in that role. I was constantly in battle mode - dealing with precise manufacturing requirements, coordinating complex work plans and responding to emergencies at any hour."
Those experiences honed her attention to detail and focus.
Ms Wang went on to hold various positions and headed the team behind Dasin Retail Trust's initial public offering here in 2017. In March this year, she assumed the role of CEO of its trustee-manager.
Dasin Retail Trust is the only China retail property trust listed in Singapore that provides direct exposure to the fast-growing Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. It has seven malls, in Foshan, Zhuhai and Zhongshan, with a value of about 11.7 billion yuan (S$2.3 billion).
The key deal came in July with the acquisition of Shunde Metro in Foshan and Tanbei Metro in Zhongshan for $375 million.
Ms Wang attributes this significant milestone to her tenacity. "During the pandemic, many unlocked a range of hidden talents, such as baking and handicraft, but my main claim to fame was the Shunde-Tanbei acquisition," she says, half tongue-in-cheek.
Her persistence ran counter to recommendations from financiers and management about market volatility, as well as the impact on valuations and revenues following Covid-19. "I didn't want to postpone the completion of the acquisition. What can or will happen in the future is anybody's guess," she says.
"We were determined to see it through, and we did."
Ms Wang aims to grow the trust's market cap to $1 billion within the next three to five years through organic growth and acquisitions.
"This will allow us to better realise the benefits of scale, such as reducing capital costs and improving operational efficiencies. At the same time, we can attract more attention from institutional investors," she says.
GROWING ECONOMIC POTENTIAL
Dasin Retail Trust's location within the Greater Bay Area also bodes well for its future. Two new financial markets - the up-and-coming Guangzhou and Macau bourses - would add to the US$8.8 trillion (S$12 trillion)combined market cap of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, amplifying the Greater Bay Area's economic potential.
Yet the trust's more immediate challenges include Covid-19 and evolving consumer trends. "This year has been impacted by the pandemic and the upcoming United States elections, but opportunities exist in any crisis," Ms Wang says. "We believe the impact of the outbreak on China's retail sector will be short-lived."
Dasin has stepped up events-driven marketing like music festivals, cultural exhibitions and sport competitions, which have buoyed footfall in its malls and sparked a rebound in monthly turnover rents.
While Ms Wang acknowledges the threat of e-commerce, she believes Dasin's malls are well-positioned to serve their densely populated catchment areas.
"Because we have adjusted our operations to accelerate the integration of online and offline into an omni-channel offering, some of our businesses were not only unaffected during the pandemic, they saw significant year-on-year increases in sales," she says.
When she is not managing the trust, she can be found with her son, 14, and daughter, seven.
"I want my children to face challenges with courage, and be able to solve their problems through determination and persistence.
"They must remember that great things are never achieved alone - they are carried out by a team - so they must never be afraid to ask for help."
- This is an excerpt from SGX's Kopi-C: The Company Brew, which features C-level executives of SGX-listed firms. Previous editions can be found on SGX's website www.sgx.com/research.
