Coach catalyst

Dmitry celebrates his 84th birthday with local friends and colleagues in Quzhou in 2015.

Years later, he earned himself another title in the company - "general coach".

But being a coach wasn't easy, especially a serious one.

One problem was the language barrier. To make his courses clear, he asked his assistants to translate all his data reports, drawings and operational instructions into Chinese, before telling them to translate the papers back in Russian so as to avoid any misunderstandings.

There is a much-told story among colleagues about his coaching.

Years ago, Dmitry suspended his teaching sessions once after a few young technicians failed to understand the structure and working of a particular equipment at one of his lectures.

Two days later, Dmitry's colleagues were surprised to find a small physical model of the equipment made from old calendars and used paper. He had spent two nights to make the model.

Lured by the promising investment environment, a series of preferential policies for foreign talents and the work spirit of his Chinese co-workers, Dmitry decided to settle down in Quzhou.

With decades of effort, Dmitry and his colleagues built the joint venture up from scratch and managed to make it an influential company with products sold at home and abroad.

Apart from his work in the field, Dmitry has contributed to building ties between Russia and China through academic exchanges and business cooperation.