Former Apple vice president Ge Jun joins ToJoy

BEIJING, May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg Businessweek in a recent article elaborated on Chinese workers leaving their jobs in Silicon Valley and opting for a career change by returning to their homeland. A growing number of overseas Chinese students, a population that typically seeks higher education at world-renowned universities in the US followed by a post-graduation stint at high-tech firms in Silicon Valley, are giving up traditionally-coveted job opportunities in American firms or other non-Chinese owned and operated firms along with the opportunity to obtain a green card. Instead, they have chosen to return to China to look for a position or to undertake something entrepreneurial.

Silicon Valley, home to many of the world's largest technology companies including Apple, Google and Facebook, is a dream destination for many Chinese coders. Yet, Silicon Valley's allure has been declining for years. Meanwhile, China has witnessed significant changes in terms of the entrepreneurial environment, the consumer market and demands for the right technical skills. Despite continuing to lag behind the US in overall scientific research competencies, China has kept up with or even outrivaled the US in such sectors such as AI, e-commerce and mobile payment. China is now home to nearly 30 unicorns, second only to the US, according to the research firm CBIsights.

Overseas returnees and large-scale unicorns have become two distinctive characteristics in the development of modern Chinese economy. The two distinctive characteristics now appear in a single company - ToJoy Shared Holding Group Co., Ltd., with Ge Jun, a former vice president at Apple, joining the firm.

As one of China's earliest and most successful unicorn incubation accelerators, ToJoy has been committed to helping Chinese private firms accelerate their growth since its establishment in 1991. To date, ToJoy has provided an online-to-offline commerce platform to hundreds of thousands of businesses via its network of more than 100 wholly-owned and majority-owned firms in over 40 cities around the world.

In 2016, ToJoy started planning its global expansion. The company established a US subsidiary in New York on November 20, 2018, marking the unicorn incubator and accelerator's formal beginning of its activities outside of the home market. With a presence in the US, Europe, Latin America and ASEAN, ToJoy has established offices in key international cities, among them, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Vienna. Furthermore, the firm is preparing for forays into India, Japan and South Korea. Mr. Ge plans to help ToJoy accelerate implementation of its international strategy and business expansion.

It is precisely such a private Chinese firm, which appears to be little known, that has reached numerous business milestones in the unicorn incubation accelerator sector, attracting the joining of three former national leaders, including the former Presidents of Costa Rica and Serbia, Jose Maria Figueres and Boris Tadic and the former Prime Minister of Belgium Yves Leterme, as well as the commercial genius Ge Jun.

Ge Jun is known as one of the few "young leaders" in contemporary China. From the beginning of 2018 to the end of March 2019, he served as Global Vice President of Nvidia Corporation, responsible for policy and market access strategies as well as for the company's collaborative efforts in China and other markets in the Asia-Pacific region. From mid-2014 to the end of 2017, he served as vice president at Apple where he was mainly responsible for and actively participating in Apple's development strategy, corporate and government affairs, policy and regulation research, corporate investment, corporate social responsibility as well as management of key relationships in Greater China. From early 1996 to mid-2014, he successively served as Senior Legal Adviser for Intel Asia Pacific, General Counsel for Intel Greater China, Executive Director of Intel China and Global Vice President of Intel. He has negotiated and led major investment projects worth more than 100 billion yuan (approx. US$15 billion) during his career. Intel, Nvidia and Apple all are labels of an era, as well as the leaders in their respective fields.

After returning to China, why did he not choose one of the world's 500 most influential brands, but rather opted to go with ToJoy, a relative unknown? At the inaugural ceremony, he publicly answered the questions that all the media organizations had been asking:

Firstly, he was attracted to the innovation model behind ToJoy, that of a globalized incubation accelerator that can speed up empowerment for firms with global aspirations and help these high-quality firms not only enter, but form a significant footprint, all of which has far-reaching significance.

Secondly, the company has openly taken on the corporate mission of incubating unicorns so they can realize their dreams, not only helping traditional firms to help these unicorns grow and smartly evolve them into meaningful contributors to a new economy, but also assisting new economy firms establish themselves in the domestic as well as in foreign markets quickly. The effort will benefit the China and its people, demonstrating that the company is a one with strategic vision and sustainable development prospects. It is a meaningful opportunity and, at the same time, a challenge to help more firms grow and accelerate their development. Furthermore, ToJoy's unique corporate culture, which focuses on the enjoyment that its employees derive from the results of their efforts, as well as its unusual schedule for the work week comprising four days a week, six hours a day, alongside a unique corporate management system, serves to fulfill the aspirations and hopes of every one of the firm's ambitious workers. At the same time, the vision, wisdom and charismatic qualities of Lu Junqing, Chairman of the Board, is also an important factor in attracting an international workforce that includes several of the world's entrepreneurial celebrities.

Furthermore, Ge Jun and Lu Junqing have striking similarities while also complementing each other. Previously, in his speech at the Global Youth Summit, Ge said, "The offering of assistance reflects the kindest side of human nature. Starting from your own side and from your own heart, be a warm person and help others wholeheartedly. Then you will attract the same kind of people around you, giving you a positive and energetic environment. Help is also a word with profound connotations. Everyone and every future entrepreneur here should think about how to help others."

Lu established ToJoy with the original intention of helping Chinese companies grow "from ants to elephants". In the past three years alone, ToJoy has successfully incubated more than 40 unicorns as well as several "Semi-Unicorn" including Sousoushenbian, Hanbond, www.huimin.cn and www.fkgou.com, providing a shared service platform for hundreds of thousands of companies, and creating a large number of jobs, business opportunities while filling local government coffers through its tax contributions.

Lu and ToJoy are also committed to helping those in need. Their ten years of philanthropic efforts have garnered them many honors including "Top Ten Public Welfare Persons on the 40^th Anniversary of China's Reform and Opening-up" and "Red Cross Medal of Dedication" this year.

The cooperation between Ge and Lu, two benevolent men dedicated to the betterment of mankind, aims to spur the development of Chinese firms and the social economy.

This phenomenon has led countless people to sigh with emotion and feel gratified. Ten years ago, only one out of every seven Chinese studying abroad returned to China. Today, six out of seven choose to return home. The fact that Ge joins ToJoy is just the beginning of a new stage. Led by Ge, more and more international talents will return to China, and stories such as the one that took place between Ge and Lu will continue to play out.

The wheel of history rolls on and what has happened in this case is an irreversible trend of our times. The economy is again booming and China's talented individuals who have studied or worked abroad are returning to their homeland.

SOURCE ToJoy Shared Holding Group Co.,Ltd.