(DCS系統(tǒng))和(機器人系統(tǒng))及(大型伺服控制系統(tǒng))備件大賣!叫賣!特賣!賣賣賣!
Chen hails from Fuqing, Southeast China's Fujian Province. He settled down in South Africa together with his parents at the age of 9, and now lives in Durban. "If you stay in South Africa for a while, you will feel a strong affinity for this place," he said.
When he first set foot on this land, what appealed to him most were the ubiquitous gun shops on the street. "In South Africa, it's legal to own guns as long as you have a license," he said.
When he became an adult, Chen did just that. He said he and his friends visit gun shops frequently and are familiar with all the new types of weapons.
In college, he majored in economic management, a major that most children of Chinese businessmen there choose.
After graduation, he helped run his family's business, managing two factories and an automobile repair shop. His family had first gone there to open a supermarket.
A report by Southern Metropolis Daily revealed that there are about 300,000 Chinese people now living in South Africa.
A member of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), South Africa is the richest country in Africa, but the country is also known for its poor security situation and has one of the highest crime rates in the world.
According to Chen, Chinese people who live and do business in South Africa like to use cash, a habit that makes them frequent targets for robbers. Of all the Chinese people living in South Africa, people from Fuqing make up a large proportion.
"Getting robbed is common for people living in South Africa," said Chen. He has often heard stories of criminals unscrupulously robbing, and in some cases murdering, Chinese people for their belongings.
After hearing of many terrible cases, he had the idea of opening a security company to protect Chinese.
Last December, a man from Chen's hometown was shot to death in Eastern Cape of South Africa, the third case of a Chinese getting robbed and killed in that single week.
Chen said that his friends and relatives supported his idea. "There are more security guards in South Africa than there are policemen. Almost every family needs one," he said.
He then gathered more than 1 million yuan ($147,540) to start his company, which only had 30 employees at the beginning.
Growing business
After three years' growth, the company now has nearly 500 employees. To help improve the local employment rate, most of the staff that Chen's company hires are local black people, and most of them are veterans and reserve policemen.
He also hires training officers who have previously served in peacekeeping missions in various countries including Angola.
Chen divides his security guards into three groups - security teams, patrols and flying tiger teams. The security team is mainly responsible for protecting local Chinese businessmen's lives. Patrols are in charge of patrolling the area they protect. Flying tiger teams are elite squads in charge of the most difficult tasks.
"It was not an easy thing to manage so many people at first," he said. As a result, he promoted several locals to management positions and set up an assessment mechanism to guarantee that only the best remained.
Chen explained that his company is headquartered in Durban and covers 300 kilometers of the surrounding area.
Their business also includes sending professional security guards to clients. It costs between 5,600 yuan to 6,600 yuan per month to hire a stationed security guard.
Chen's friend Zhang Jian said that unlike their parents, receiving education in South Africa has made them better at communicating with locals and more familiar with the culture and laws there, giving them a natural advantage in providing security services for Chinese.
Chen often works with other security guards on the front line. His wife worries about his safety, and often pleads with him to change his job, which he refuses to do.
A day before an interview with Fujian Province-based news portal hxnews.com, a security staff member from his company spotted several robbers hijacking a cash truck near a shopping mall. They immediately took out their AK47s and confronted the criminals, who later fled amid the gunfire.
Chen's company also works together with local police, and once they find criminals, they turn them in to the local authorities.
In addition to Chinese clients, some locals and even travel agencies now contact Chen for his services.
Chen said he is now planning to expand his business outside Durban and to set up companies in other African countries.