The Pinnacle’s CEO says shared history strengthens Jamaica-China bond

The businessman, who arrived in Jamaica from China 20 years ago, strongly believes “companies that work across cultures come up with better ideas and find answers faster. They also build things that last”.

Li has firsthand experience. He is one of the developers behind the luxury residential high-rise The Pinnacle, now in advanced construction in Bogue, St James.

Acknowledging the ties that bind the creative and business economies, Li said the former, which “spans imagination, design and storytelling is worth trillions today, and is growing faster than traditional industry”.

The Chinese-Jamaican businessman’s observations came as he delivered the main address at the Anime Picnic. The annual convention of gaming and anime enthusiasts was held on Saturday at the Confucius Institute at The University of the West Indies, Mona.

“Countries with deep cultural ties to their trading partners bring in much more investment and trade than those without,” Li told the sizeable gathering of mostly cosplaying adolescents and young adults as he spoke in the courtyard.

“The relationship between China and Jamaica is not built on trade agreements alone. It is built on over a century of shared life, shared neighbourhoods, shared tables, and shared history. What you see around you today is proof of that,” he declared.

The multipurpose Confucius Institute, which houses classrooms, a lecture theatre, conference rooms and a library, among other amenities, was built by the People’s Republic of China and handed over to the Jamaican Government in 2019.

Li celebrated the individuality of the scores of costumed fans in attendance.

“At the heart of all of it is one simple skill. The ability to understand people who are different from you. You have been building that skill your whole lives. You just call it fandom.”

He drew a through line to Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, one of the world’s largest retailers, and the gamers and animanga fans in attendance.

“He (Ma) looked for every chance to talk to people different from himself. Not for a grade nor a certificate, but because he wanted to know how other people thought. When he built Alibaba, he built a Chinese company that later expanded and understood multiple worlds from the start,” Li observed.

“That was not luck. It was the result of years spent being curious about people who were different from him. That curiosity is exactly what I see here today. And you have something Jack Ma did not have at your age. You already live in a connected world. You already see across cultures every day.”

PROUD OF GROWTH

Dwayne Henry, a principal of the event first hosted 11 years ago, was immensely proud of its organic growth.

“This all started in 2015 as a casual link-up with a small group of like-minded persons at Hope Gardens,” he recalled. “From there, the evolution has been phenomenal. It just became bigger and bigger to what it is right now.”

This year’s iteration, themed ‘Jade Dynasty: The Golden Lotus’, featured gaming experiences and esports tournaments, cultural activities inspired by Chinese traditions, as well as anime and cosplay competitions.

With its deep immersion in both Japanese and Chinese cultures, Henry touted Anime Picnic as a safe space for persons “who want to be who they are”. The Anime Nerds of Jamaica co-founder said “giving persons a platform to be themselves and not being judged, allows them to turn out all dressed up how they want to be”.

A systems administrator at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital by day and lifelong anime enthusiast off the clock, Henry said that beyond the Anime Picnic, there is an active community across multiple social media platforms and, alternately, in-person monthly meetings.

Li also spoke to the importance of building community, which he said laid the foundation for his business pursuits.

“When I came to Jamaica from China with a suitcase and very little English, I came to understand that business here lives inside relationships,” he shared. “You become part of the community first, and then the commerce follows.”

“Every relationship I built, I built slowly. With care. With respect for what this place means for the people who call it home. The Pinnacle in Montego Bay did not happen because I had the right figures on a page. It happened because people came to believe that I believed in Jamaica,” said the chief executive.

editorial@gleanerjm.com