FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL
Unlike many of China's tech giants, which are mainly headquartered in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, Meitu's Xiamen base is less known to the tech community.
The company is located in a "software park" in northeastern Xiamen island. Meitu moved into the park in 2010 with only about 30 people in its startup team, and in seven years it has grown to be the biggest company there, with more than 1,000 employees.
"When we first came, many buildings were still available and streets were empty," said Zhang Lelin, a senior employee at Meitu, "Now we face traffic jams during rush hours every day."
"Meitu's success is typical of companies in the park," said Ni Jie, director of the software park's administrative office. "Startups come, enjoy preferential policies, grow stronger and compete in a larger market."
Established in 2008, the software park was once a village. It has become one of the most vibrant communities on the island and home to more than 3,000 companies.
The park offers subsidies for rent and R&D, preferential tax policies, and tech workshops.
"We also invite leading companies to settle in the park so that smaller ones here have a better chance to learn from and cooperate with them," Ni said.
Meitu and three other companies in the park launched IPOs in 2016.
"It was an IPO rush in 2016, bringing the number of listed companies in the park to eight," Ni said, "Some of these companies have also started to compete in the global market."
"With the IPO, we hope to make Meitu an international brand so we can attract top talent from all over the world," CEO Wu said. "With success in the Brazilian and Indian markets, we will continue to improve our products and foster large communities throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Russia," he added.
