IN the lobby of the headquarters of cranemaker Yongmao Holdings sits three sleek Harley-Davidson motorcycles owned by Yongmao founder and executive chairman Sun Zhao Lin.

Mr Sun, who loved motorbikes in his younger days but could not afford a Harley, said he is too old now to ride them around town.

"They are for my employees to recognise the quality in every screw, every bar, to show them how we need to be serious and careful in our work," he tells The Business Times in Mandarin.