報導﹕美國百人華商世博訪問團

Members of the delegation of Chinese CEOs visiting the Shanghai Expo pose for a photo in Shanghai on May 11, 2010.
[Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Yang Yang]

Richard Lee, chairman of the delegation of 100 Chinese-American CEOs visiting the Shanghai Expo, delivers a speech expressing his best wishes for the ongoing World Expo in Shanghai on May 11, 2010.
[Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Yang Yang]

Nike Cheng, a member of the delegation of 100 Chinese-American CEOs visiting the Shanghai Expo, poses for a photo in Shanghai on May 11, 2010. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Yang Yang]

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Sophia Li, a member of the delegation of 100 Chinese-American CEOs visiting the Shanghai Expo, poses for a photo in Shanghai on May 11, 2010.
[Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Yang Yang]

Sophia Li: from a Singer to a Successful Entrepreneur in the US

    2010-05-13 15:28:18     CRIENGLISH.com      Web Editor: Liu Donghui

by Yang Yang

She is an American now, but the blood in her veins is still Chinese. Her entrepreneurial spirit is easy to see, but once you know her story you can also tell that precious virtues such as insistence and perseverance are also shining in her personality. She is Sophia Li, a Chinese-American singer turned CEO.

Majoring in music, she used to dream of becoming a singer. After graduating in 1983, Sophia joined the Shenzhen Orchestra in southeastern China. But opera was not very popular in China at that time, and the stage in China was not big enough for Sophia. So she decided to go to America to find a bigger stage for herself.

"The market for opera singing in Shenzhen is not very good. We were asked to sing karaoke, such as 'Xili Reservoir' and 'Luohu Hotel.' We felt a great disparity between our dream and the reality."

Sophia went to America as an overseas student and then started doing business. In the very beginning, Sophia only had a small shop of about 300 inches due to a lack of capital. Gradually, with increasing earnings, the size of her shop expanded to 2,000 inches and she was able to open five large shops. Now, she not only owns many furniture companies in America, but is also president of China's top three LCD producing companies, with over 4 billion U.S. dollars in investment.

Since starting to do business in 1983, Sophia has experienced a lot of ups and downs. As early as 1988, she became one of the first investors to bring over 1.6 million U.S. dollars to China. Unfortunately, her investment in the real estate industry was not as successful as she had expected. Although she lost a large amount of money at that time, she never lost her way and never thought of giving up.

"I am lucky since not everyone can become successful in America. I think the reason why I could achieve today's success is not only the hard work by myself, but also the opportunity and free space provided in the U.S. Everyone is equal in front of the opportunity, and you have learnt to master it and learn to overcome difficulties when you face it."

After nearly 30 years of hard work, Sophia has found her position in the U.S. and on her own stage. She has a very happy family and three children in Los Angeles. During her trip back to China, she has found great changes have taken place in China and feels very proud of China's improvement. But she also thinks that there is still a large space for China to improve and make a difference. Her trip back home made a deep impression on her and she believes that the country can make more progress in the near future.