Family man flies high in aviation sector(2)

On the other side, Chinese executives also usually experienced an international company's pioneering days in China, which had a large share of difficulties.

Xie's first big footprint in China was made at the Shanghai Engine Center - a joint venture between United Technologies and China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd, which opened for business in 2009.

The joint venture provides a maintenance, repair and overhauling service for CFM56 engines for both China and overseas customers in the region.

"We delivered our 300th serviced engine recently," said Xie, who is very proud of the facility's growth.

But the other side of the story is that the project took Xie more than three years to communicate with every side in the joint venture's establishment.

The Yale graduate continues to take charge of the group's aerospace business, including engines, helicopters and systems.

"I can feel the excitement of the aviation industry, although I do not know much about technology," Xie said.

United Technologies provided spacesuits for man's first landing on the moon. Its technologies was also used by the allies during the World War II.

Along with the development of the aviation manufacturing industry, China also became an important part of United Technologies' production chain.

The group's aerospace business has more than 20 suppliers in China and plans to double its purchases to $300 million by 2016, Xie said.

United Technologies is also a supplier for the C919 - China's home-made large passenger aircraft. The company and the developer and maker of the C919, Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd, has already built up a joint venture for the big carrier's power-supply systems.

"I will lead the group in continuing to explore China's aviation industry," Xie said.

But as president of United Technologies government relations in China, a tougher task for Xie's position is to integrate the different brands of the group.

It is not easy to coordinate the powerful business units inside the company, he said.

Xie said a long-term strategy must be made by the group that the business units should carry out appropriately.

United Technologies has some well-known product brands, including Pratt & Whitney, Carrier, The Sikorsky Aircraft Corp and The Otis Elevator Co but, outside the industry, few people know the group's name.

Promoting the name of United Technologies is one of the priorities for Xie this year.

"The brand of United Technologies will become better known in China in the future," Xie said.

"I will work with the business leaders on a stronger corporate name and well-deserved recognition in China."

Social responsibility and industrial cooperation projects will be starting points to promote the brand, he added.

United Technologies launched a program in December to donate libraries to primary schools in rural China. It is the first time the program was upgraded to the group level - it used to be conducted solely by the group's aviation business unit.

Xie, who has a weakness for history books, said he learned some management methodologies from Chinese classics, such as Mao Zedong's On Contradiction and books by Zeng Guofan, an eminent Han Chinese official, military general and devout Confucian scholar of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) in China.

After work, Xie, who received his bachelor's degree from Peking University, has some characteristics typical of Chinese college graduates from the 1980s.

He is a versatile person and plays guitar in the company's year-end gatherings, said Xie Bin, communication director of United Technologies Aerospace Systems in China.

"I believe in a work-life balance," Xie said.

He is also a family man and the father of two teenagers. He usually goes straight home after work to help his children learn Chinese.

"I believe family should stay together," said Xie.

A sense of home is also a reason for Xie's staying in the technology company for such a long time.

"It has been natural for me to spend 18 years at United Technologies because I just feel at home here," he said.