“The inequalities in the world are less and less about race or age and increasingly about education.” – how to do a hundred things right and why Tibetan culture can be one of them.

Annie S. C. Wu, Standing Committee Member, The National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Vice Chairman, Beijing Air Catering Co.; Board Member, World Trade Centers Association, Hong Kong, P. R. China

While some people live with no mission at all, others have committed themselves to solving a specific problem. But what about a person who takes up several big missions and manages to be reliable and outstanding in all of them?
Annie Wu has established the first private company in China in 1980, an air catering business, and has been managing a number of other enterprises ever since. She is the first Chinese woman Director at the World Trade Center Association. That’s her business woman life.
The remaining 150% of her time, Annie invests in addressing a number of social and cultural issues in her country. Together with UNICEF, she raised money for the elimination of infantile paralysis across China and she a donation of HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) for the Hepatitis B elimination project, run in one of China’s poorest areas, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Annie supported 10’000 students from HK to be able to travel to various provinces of China to know about the mainland. Her current passion is about preventing and fighting HIV/AIDS in China and about promoting Tibetan culture and the economic development of the region. Since creativity and a great network are some of Annie’s numerous virtues, she has organized a world class concert in Lhasa, Tibet, featuring some international singers combined with traditional local artists.
With this intensity of activities, it’s no wonder that Annie considered Friday night, 10pm, to be a good time for an interview with us, before running off to the office to get some things done and be ready for the Saturday morning flight to Shanghai.

Below you will find a selection of Annie’s statements and you may be able to read more about her inspiring work in our book “MyImpact”.

Annie Wu’s selected quotations:
“When I was 8 years old I decided what I wanted to do; I wanted to run a restaurant business.”

“I got the experience of the 70ies at Berkeley University; there were all the hippies, music, and marihuana. All the activities not very close to my following business life. My first assignment was for the organisation of the Expo in Osaka.”

“A lot of people do not understand Asia. Travelling, visiting countries and learning about cultures is very important to understand each other.”

“I have been in the restaurant business for 25 years. It is not just about running a business; it is also about training a new kind of people.”

“One can achieve nothing without effort. Keep in mind your life goal and get down to earnest work.”

“The impact I want to have is to change people’s lives, especially of young people in China.”

“I have heard a lot about Tibet, also bad things, and so I thought I needed to see it myself. I organized a big, international concert in Lhasa and through this started to get to know the region. I have now visited Tibet many times and will set up a food factory to provide employment for women, as well as medical healthcare facilities for children.”

“You can’t always ask people for donations. Therefore, I try to find financially sustainable concepts for some of the activities.”

“Business is my job, and culture is my passion.”

“I think a lot of today’s reality becomes virtual. There is not too much humanity and human contacts in it, anymore. International exchange, cosmopolitan views, and background in arts – all help keep us human. We are sharing a world together and I want young people to get to know and maybe better understand the world; the more Western and the more Asian parts of it. ”

Some background on Annie S. C. Wu:
Annie was born and educated in Hong Kong, within a UK schooling system at a Christian school. At the age of 17 she left for the UK for further education and then to the USA to study Business Administration at the Armstrong University in Berkeley. After three years in restaurant business in Japan, she came back to Asia to work in various jobs, and, together with her family, to establish the first joint ventures in China, after the new opening of the country under Deng Xiaoping. She has been serving as Managing Director of Hong Kong Beijing Air Catering Ltd and over the years increased the focus on social engagements, especially in the education field. Annie is among 16 executive directors in the World Trade Center Association and is the first Chinese and the only woman to take an active part in international business activities, where men are the dominant population. Annie also chairs the World Trade Centers Association in Hong Kong. Annie Wu’s special objective is the education of the future generations of Hong Kong and, in particular, the development of their understanding of Chinese history and culture. This she effectively does through her involvement as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of The Chinese History and Culture Educational Foundation for Youth and Soong Ching Ling Children’s Foundation.
Annie serves on various Advisory Bodies, including being a Standing Committee Member of the National Committee of Chinese People’s Consultative Conference and she is actively involved in a wide variety of community activities, and, in her capacity as Executive member of various women’s organizations, is particularly active in advancing the cause of Women’s issues, both in Hong Kong and on Mainland China.

Background on Beijing Air Catering Co.:
At the end of the 70ies, when the news of China's reform and opening up to the outside world came out, Annie Wu put forward an application to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, for the first joint venture company, while many foreign investors were still hesitant, taking a wait-and-see attitude. In 1980, Beijing Air Catering Company was finally established with Annie Wu as the vice chairman of the board and her father, the honorary chairman. It marked an important breakthrough in the introduction of foreign investment on China's mainland. The air food industry in China has thus entered a new stage of modernization. With advanced equipment, technology and management, the company has provided Chinese food, which meets the international standard. Now the average handle is 80 flights per day. It caters to 29 foreign airlines, 22 domestic airlines and all VIP flights and chartered flights to Beijing. Their food and service have won much acclaim.

Some background on the World Trade Center Association (WTCA):
Established in 1968, and with its headquarters in New York, the World Trade Center Association follows a principle of promoting world trade by extending commercial contacts. Meanwhile it has made a promise to assist developing countries in business development. In early 1976, Annie Wu predicted that the association would play a very important role in international economic activities. In view of that, she proposed to apply for Hong Kong's membership, which was supported by local personalities from industrial and commercial circles and approved by the association. The success of it means that Hong Kong can get direct links with more than 500,000 members around the world, via computer. Since the association is of special significance to China, in its initial stages of the market economy Annie has been busy going from one city to another for years, taking all the trouble to popularize the concept of the association. As a result of her consistent efforts, many key cities on the mainland joined the organization and so far 2,000 members have joined, since its establishment in Hong Kong. In 1995, the World Trade Center Association successfully convened its 26th annual meeting in Beijing, and its 28th in Hong Kong in 1997, greatly advancing China's inroads into foreign trade.

If you would like to engage with the work of Annie S. C. Wu or get to know more about the World Trade Center Association please visit http://world.wtca.org,
or, for more specific opportunities, contact joanna.stefanska@myimpact.ch or wolfgang.hafenmayer@myimpact.ch directly.