Melvin Chua (Chai Wai Zhe)

By Mark Graham

It is a racing certainty that Melvin Chua (Chai Wai Zhe) will be present at many of the most glamorous, star-studded, parties in China – because he organizes most of them.

Chua is the go-to guy for everyone who wants a spot of pizzazz at their event. His personal roster of clients includes supermodel Du Juan, film stars Maggie Cheung and Shu Qi and upcoming male models Philip Huang and Benjamin Tang, while his corporate list includes virtually all the major fashion and jewelry brands, along with the car giant Audi.

The entrepreneur flits between offices in Shanghai and Beijing, with regular trips to New York, Paris, Milan and London, negotiating luxury-related deals and hobnobbing with the glitterati. Needless to say, Chua has endless reserves of energy and boundless enthusiasm, personally supervising most aspects of the major events that he helps stage. Last year's Vogue China icons extravaganza, which Chua helped organize, saw international supermodel Kate Moss fly into Beijing as the big-name guest, along with Cheung and American-Chinese designer Phillip Lim.

Starting from no-name

But Chua made a name for himself in China by planning much more modest events and making a limited budget stretch a long way. When the ambitious executive first came to work in Shanghai more than a decade ago to work for an advertising agency selling, as he put it, "everything from diapers to soft drinks to cigarettes," he found to his dismay that it was difficult to get creative ads onto national television.

The adman came up with an inventive scheme. Knowing that regional television stations were desperate for content, but lacked cash to buy quality material, Chua persuaded several of his clients to bankroll production of their own soap opera, featuring subtle product placements. The series, Love Talks, was offered to regional broadcasters in return for free ads.

"It was in 20 parts and featured a storyline with an ad executive as the romantic lead," recalled Chua. "It was very successful – we certainly got value from it. After that, then the regulations were changed."

The real life adman went on to launch his own business that now embraces all areas of entertainment and fashion. The portfolio of Chua's company, Ink-Pak, has included some of the biggest names in fashion, such as Giorgio Armani, Tod's, Louis Vuitton and Burberry. The boss also acts as manager for Shanghai-born supermodel Du Juan, film stars Shu and Cheung and male models Huang and Tang.

It's now a cinch for Chua to put on big productions that catch the media eye such as the launch of the Giorgio Armani store in Shanghai several years ago that featured a personal visit by the revered Italian fashion maestro.

"It involved a lot of strategy," said Chua. "We had to make sure we were meeting the target group. We had an exhibition, and a party when Mr Armani was here and it was the talk of the town … We put on a display of 400 dresses at the Shanghai art museum – all the mannequins were hand carved. It took three years to negotiate, nothing on that scale had ever been done before."

Wharton kid's passion

"Everything I take on is something that I love; there is the opportunity to do that in China. It helps that I have a strong financial background and a strong marketing background, so you can tailor make your business partner around who you are."

The 36-year-old, who comes from a Chinese-Filipino business family, graduated with a degree in business and finance from the renowned Wharton Business School in Philadelphia in 1995. On returning to Asia, he worked first in Hong Kong, then moved swiftly on to Shanghai, subsequently shooting up the corporate ladder at McCann Erickson, in charge of 100 staff, at the age of 25. Buoyed by that success, he used his savings to launch his own company in 2004, with the intention of specializing in events, promotion and, more recently, celebrity representation.

Most of the 50-plus employees of Ink Pak Communication Group are long-serving; Chua said senior staff who perform well are entitled to a slice of the profits, a major incentive when business is booming.

"My business is small and very lean and there are people who have worked for me since I have been in Shanghai," said Chua. "One of my assistants from those days now runs the celebrity division. One thing I have learned doing business in China is that you need to be flexible."

"It is very easy to start lowering your standards sometimes and you have to be able to challenge yourself not to do that. Depending on the industry in China the hardware is there but not the software. In the service industry, one of the biggest challenges is human resources. In the retail business, it is a problem to find good staff and managers for stores."

Super agent

As superstar model Du Juan's manager, much of Chua's time is taken up with ensuring she is associated with quality brands – Louis Vuitton or Giorgio Armani advertising campaigns, rather than representing mass-market products – in conjunction with experts from the giant celebrity agency IMG, who act as agents for China's most successful supermodel.

International executives from the major brands also come to Chua for advice, knowing that his inside knowledge is invaluable and his contacts second to none. Currently, he is in the early stages of planning a fashion extravaganza for next fall in and around the Aman luxury resort at the Summer Palace. The plan is to hire hundreds of extras dressed in imperial-era costumes.

In the meantime, there is no discernible slowdown in the Chinese appetite for luxury goods despite the worldwide recession. Beijing in particular, which once played second fiddle to Shanghai in the fashion stakes, is becoming more and more important, now boasting a world-class collection of swanky malls and tony boutiques.

"I think people in Shanghai tend to be always looking for deals, there are not as many big spenders as in Beijing," says Chua. "A lot of the people who shop (in Beijing) tend to be entrepreneurs, whereas in Shanghai, with its service-oriented industries, it is more professionals. The second tier cities are also becoming more and more important."

"It makes it a fascinating time to be in China," he says. "China, and our culture, has been a source of inspiration for many Western designers and now I think you will start to see international-level talents coming out of the country. I am also happy to see established international Chinese designers like Vera Wang, Anna Sui and Vivienne Tam coming back to China and spending time here as they are a great source of inspiration."