The South African who is almost Shanghainese

David Preston, chairman and chief executive offi cer of Boehringer Ingelheim in China, is one of the recipients of this year's Honorable Citizen of Shanghai Award, the highest award an expat can win in this city. GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: The Honorable Citizen of Shanghai Award is the highest tier in the Magnolia Awards which are presented to foreigners who have made significant contributions to the city's development. Named after the city's flower, the Shanghai Magnolia Awards have been given out annually since 1989 and is among the highest honors a foreigner can receive in the city.

After living in Shanghai for 21 years, David Preston can now consider himself to be more of a Shanghainese than an expatriate.

On Sept 30, the South African was conferred the Honorable Citizen of Shanghai Award, the highest tier in the prestigious Magnolia Award that the local government can present to foreigners in recognition of their contributions to the city's social and economic development.

The Magnolia Awards have been presented annually since 1989. There are three categories: Magnolia Silver, Magnolia Gold and Honorable Citizen of Shanghai.

Preston, who is the chairman and chief executive officer of Boehringer Ingelheim in China, had previously won the Silver and Gold awards in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

Like many expatriates, Preston came to China for business. He ended up falling in love with a Chinese woman and starting a family with her. The couple have two daughters, Caitlin, 6, and Charlotte, 2.

Before taking the helm of Boehringer Ingelheim's China operations in 2009, Preston worked for Xian Janssen, the US-headquartered pharmaceutical maker's China joint venture, and French-based Sanofi-Aventis.

He lived in Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Beijing before settling down in Shanghai in 1996 when Sanofi allowed him to choose a city to set up its China office. Preston said he chose Shanghai largely because of the city's pool of quality local talent that comprised many returnees who studied overseas.

Born to two English parents in Cape Town in South Africa, Preston said he had always desired to be in an industry where he could work in foreign countries and be exposed to different cultures. After graduating with a degree in business and commerce, he joined the pharmaceutical industry as he believed it would provide him with the opportunity to see the world.

Preston was right. He was posted to Belgium not long after he started his career and worked in that country till 1992 when an opportunity in China came up.

"China was opening-up and I thought that it would become extremely open one day. I knew it was the right time to go to China," he recalled.

More than two decades later, Preston said that he is still intrigued at how his adopted country is still in its "golden phase".

"You always feel that there's something new and exciting that's happening. And when it happens, it is so quick," said Preston, snapping his fingers as he cited examples of innovation such as Mobike, the world's first dockless and cash-free bike sharing platform.

"I don't know if there was ever a time in this country when I thought: 'Okay, it's slow enough for me. I need to go find another country where I could perhaps get that same feeling of exhilaration, that same feeling of satisfaction,'" he added.

Preston first lived in Shanghai in 1993, following his stint in Xi'an that lasted a few months. Being an adventurous person, he ventured beyond the restaurants in the Hilton Hotel on Huashan Road where he stayed and would explore the local dining scene.

He even had lunch with a local family in a tiny apartment.

"We would go there at lunchtime and sit on the bed," he chuckled. "But it was charming."

He also remembers how the Pudong area then was in its initial phase of development.

"People said Pudong was a big rice field. That was a lie," he said, while referring to a photo he took in 1993 that shows a half-completed Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower from across the Bund.

As head of Boehringer Ingelheim China, Preston has managed the company's rapid expansion through projects including a biotech manufacturing and production facility in Pudong and an animal vaccine plant in Taizhou, Jiangsu province. As one of the leading projects in the city's innovation drive, the biotech manufacturing facility is aiming to become the first global provider of biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing solutions in China.

Preston is very proud of the project, which represented an investment of at least 100 million euros when it was launched in 2013. He pointed out that there was no regulatory pathway to guarantee that the plant would receive a license after being constructed during that time. Nevertheless, he managed to convince the company's headquarters in Germany to go ahead with the project because he "had faith in the Chinese government".

"That faith in government has stood me in a good place for many years," Preston said, adding that mutual commitment is the key for multinationals to survive and thrive in China.

When asked about his retirement plans, the seasoned businessman said he hopes to become a mentor for Chinese start-ups, which he said is the best way he could give back to the local community. Preston added that he does not plan on ever leaving Shanghai, which he admits still captivates him till today.

"One thing that is charming about the city is although we have the high rises and it's very modern, you can still walk downstairs and find something very local very quickly," he said.

Preston also has a piece of advice for foreigners who are new to the city: "Never see something as wrong or right, but rather different. Embrace the Shanghainese of this city instead of being against them. As a foreigner, you have to fit in. You have to be part of it."

linshujuan@chinadaily.com.cn