American Harry Cochran, who turned down a US$250,000-a-year job to run a joint venture in Shenzhen, is proud of what he and his Chinese partner are doing.

Cochran, who has master's degrees in mathematics and business administration, had been an entrepreneur in the software business in the United States before moving to China.

In 1997, he met Xia Lei, a Chinese man who was working with Arrow Electronics in New York. In early 2000, Xia contacted Cochran with the idea of setting up a joint venture in the electronic components supply chain management service business in China.

"Xia's idea for SinoHub came from a conversation he had with a friend at Nokia about the problems they faced managing their supply chain. I quickly saw the possibilities for the opportunity and SinoHub was formed, and then SinoHub Technology Co. Ltd.," Cochran, CEO of SinoHub Inc., said.

SinoHub Technology processed its first order to import integrated circuits into China in February 2001. Since then, SinoHub has been importing about US$25 million worth of electronic components per month.

Headquartered in Nanshan's Hi-tech Park in Shenzhen, where the company has a warehouse and distribution center, SinoHub also has offices and warehouses in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

"Unlike the Danone-Wahaha case, many JVs in China like SinoHub are working well," Cochran said.

Cochran and SinoHub president Xia Lei were somewhat guarded when asked about the company's future plans, but it is clear that SinoHub's continuing success is rapidly carrying it to the next level of development.

The only possible challenges to its growth at this point are a lack of additional financing and being able to hire qualified people fast enough.

(Shenzhen Daily December 26, 2007)