Gui Shengyue, chief executive officer of Geely Automobile Holdings, says learning the world's latest technology through mergers and acquisitions is key to keeping Geely's continued growth. [Parker Zheng / China Daily] Most people won't dispute it's the courage and aspirations of founder Li Shufu that have helped shape the group's growth, while paying scant attention to the rigor and pragmatism of Gui Shengyue. Gui was named chief executive officer of Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile Holdings in 2006 after having been tapped by Li in the 1990s well before Geely ventured into the auto industry. Li and Gui, who are of the same age and natives of Zhejiang province in eastern China, struck up a solid relationship despite their different backgrounds. Li had started from scratch, while Gui was recommended by Beijing to work in State-owned China Resources (Holdings) Company in Hong Kong. Gui reckons it's China Resources' standardized management and regulations that have shaped his business philosophy. Discipline and legality are important in such a large corporation. This has influenced me a lot and made me more practical. He was a key witness to Geely's Automobile's development over the years, purchasing spare parts for the group and feeding it with global market information from Hong Kong. After having worked in Hong Kong for years, Gui has grown accustomed to the local business environment. I came to Hong Kong just after graduating from university in 1986. It enabled me to get some understanding of business rivalry in a regulated market in my early years, says Gui. Geely grew rapidly and became one of China's top 500 enterprises in 2002. Its speedy expansion had put pressure on the company's cash flow because of its huge sales target and high production investment. This accelerated Geely's desire to seek opportunities by going public. With Gui's help in building the company's structure, Geely was successfully listed on Hong Kong's stock market through a back-door listing in 2005. The initial public offering eased Geely's capital pressure and created the path for it to climb onto the world arena. Having been appointed to the helm of the Hong Kong unit, Gui believes a successful leader has to be good at controlling the whole situation and capable of making critical decisions. Although critical decisions may involve risks, a leader has to conquer them, and adopting a conservative approach won't bring the results, he says. Thus, I believe, to a certain extent, all the M&As are linked to the existence of our listed company here in Hong Kong. We may not play a critical role but we do have some impact for sure. Geely's shares had been on a roll since the unit's flotation in Hong Kong and the company becoming a constituent of the Hang Seng Index early last year, ending 2017 with its share price tripled. support braceletslivestrong braceletbat fidget spinnerjordan wristband rubbermake rubber bracelets
A staff member interacts with Xiaofa, a robot that provides simple legal advice and guidance for litigants, at Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court on Thursday. [Zou Hong/China Daily] The Chinese capital's first artificial intelligence robot for legal services was put into operation in a Beijing court on Thursday. The robot, named Xiaofa, stands 1.46 meters tall and provides legal advice and guidance in a child's voice. Xiaofa explains complicated legal terms in everyday language to help the public better understand legal definitions, said Du Xiangyang, founder and CEO of AEGIS Data, which designed Xiaofa. We used a child's voice to ease the tense emotions of litigants who come here for help. The robot can move its head and wave its hands as instructions show up on screen, and it can guide people to the exact service window for litigation services. The appearance of Xiaofa was a big move for the Beijing court, as the capital works to build a smart court system. Over 40,000 litigation questions and 30,000 legal issues can be answered by the robot, according to the court. Interaction between humans and machines has improved immensely, said Ma Laike, deputy head of Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court. It will decrease the cost of litigation, save trial resources and improve the efficiency of justice. Before the robot was introduced into the Beijing court system, it was tested by legal professionals. In October 2016, China's first AI legal robot, Faxiaotao, was unveiled in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, attracting visitors from home and abroad. Faxiaotao can help people analyze the best way to solve a dispute, and also assist them in selecting which attorneys are suitable to accept the case, according to the robot's designer, Itslaw, a company that combines internet technology with law. For example, if a company's corporate client believes its advertisements or advertising slogans have been illegally copied by a rival company and would like to hire an attorney who is a specialist, Faxiaotao will first recognize what kind of case it is and then analyze its database for suitable lawyers who have dealt with similar disputes. More than 300,000 attorneys across the country were listed in the company's database last year. When a query is made it selects the best three options, the company said. The Supreme People's Court has ordered Chinese courts at all levels to build technology-friendly systems for lawsuits and explore the use of big data and AI to help judges and litigants search documents and resolve cases. An internal intelligent system covers 3,520 courts across the country, giving the courts access to a great deal of information online. Xin Wen contributed to this story.
