Why did Dong Mingzhu use this phrase to welcome Li Shufu?

· Car Thirteen Lines ID: wzhauto2023 ·

Li Shufu and Dong Mingzhu, two entrepreneurs representing China’s home appliance and automotive industries meet, and many people overlooked a phrase on the background wall after their meeting. When you stand on the mountain top, there is still a starry sky above you. Many people don’t understand why Gree uses this phrase on the most prominent place in its headquarters and on the big screen to welcome Li Shufu?

This is a phrase Dong Mingzhu has liked to say internally at Gree since 2018. In this Chinese business iron lady’s eyes, how a company ranks in the Fortune Global 500 may not always be important, but always remember that when standing on the mountain top, look up and see the starry sky, and treat innovation as an everlasting topic.

Since Gree first became the number one in the air conditioning industry in 1996, Dong Mingzhu has ingrained this principle into Gree’s very bones. Climbing has no end; when you think you’ve reached the top, there are still roads above. When you think you’re good enough, there’s always room for improvement. Gree has maintained years of no price cuts, no cutting corners, and no fooling consumers because it constantly remembers that the starry sky above is always there. You must keep moving upward and never look down.

Many people think this is just a beautiful saying. But those who have worked in manufacturing know that behind these words is Gree’s decades of perseverance. Someone once described Dong Mingzhu’s most frequent action as saying no to people. In 2004, Gome unilaterally lowered the price of Gree air conditioners for promotions. Price cuts mean reduced specifications, forcing manufacturers to cut corners. Dong Mingzhu immediately ordered: withdraw all displays. Huang Guangyu’s response was also very tough; if Gome dared to withdraw displays, all Gome stores would clear Gree products. Dong Mingzhu didn’t hesitate and gave up tens of billions of yuan in channels in a year. She said, if you lower prices, I have to cut costs, and lowering costs will compromise quality. No one can open that door.

During the craziest price war in the air conditioning industry, many manufacturers used aluminum instead of copper. Costs went down, but consumers couldn’t tell. Dong Mingzhu demanded that Gree resolutely not do that. Her answer was very down-to-earth: Gree has researched aluminum technology, but its long-term reliability doesn’t meet standards, so Gree can’t use it. All Gree air conditioners, whether cheap or expensive, must be made of pure copper. This is not stubbornness; it’s conscience.

In 2005, Gree was the first in China’s air conditioning industry to offer six years of free repair. In 2021, it extended the warranty from six to ten years for free. No one dared to compete with that in the industry. Why? Because everyone dared not compare their real materials with Gree’s. Gree dared because it had reduced the failure rate of 10,000 units of air conditioners to 0.03%. Dong Mingzhu’s words were watched by Li Shufu for a long time. Perhaps Li Shufu’s insights into innovation and perseverance are even deeper in car manufacturing. In 1998, the first batch of Geely Haoqing cars rolled off the line but failed internal inspections. Hundreds of thousands of yuan worth of new cars could still be sold with some tweaks following the old automotive ways. But Li Shufu didn’t do that. He drove a forklift in front of the entire factory and crushed over a hundred new cars. Geely Holding Group CEO An Conghui recalled that scene with emotion: car manufacturing almost failed.

In 2007, the entire automotive industry was engaged in price wars. Li Shufu announced in Ningbo in front of over a hundred dealers that Geely would no longer fight price wars, but instead focus on technology, quality, and value. Many thought Li Shufu was foolish for giving up quick profits. But he later said that developing industry has no shortcuts; building cars requires patience and resisting temptation.

Later, Li Shufu did something even more incomprehensible with Geely. In 2010, he bought Volvo Cars for 1.3 billion US dollars, roughly over 130 billion RMB. That year, Geely’s profit was only a few million. Western media ridiculed this acquisition as a snake swallowing an elephant. Li Shufu remained silent, and in less than five years, he and Volvo brought safety technology and R&D systems to China, gradually integrating them, and started developing cars globally under the standard of “making Chinese cars travel around the world.”

The story that followed is well known. From selling a car for only four or five ten thousand yuan back then, to now the Zeekr 009 selling for 700,000 to 800,000 yuan. Especially in the five years since Zeekr was established, many outside suggestions urged lowering prices to boost stock, but Zeekr refused to compromise on technology and craftsmanship. This is why today Zeekr has achieved market success from 009 to 9X and 8X models. Zeekr has kept its technology and quality intact. So this year, some say Zeekr is the biggest dark horse. But there’s no such thing as a dark horse; it’s about steady progress. Only by taking one step at a time, enduring day after day, can others see how many shoes you’ve worn out under your feet, and only see your final leap into the sky.

Just like Dong Mingzhu’s willingness to serve as Geely’s Chief Quality Officer this time, I say there are few products that can catch her eye. Besides Gree and Zeekr, perhaps these are the only products publicly recognized by Dong Mingzhu. In March this year, Dong Mingzhu ordered three Zeekr 009s after a test drive. The reason she liked them was simple: peace of mind. That’s why she and Li Shufu, two giants, talk not about business models but about the standards of Chinese manufacturing.

Gree’s slogan is “Let the world fall in love with Chinese Made.” Li Shufu’s Geely also has a slogan: “Let Chinese cars travel around the world.” Both phrases actually refer to the same thing: for Chinese manufacturing to stand tall in front of the world, it must rely on quality, not on cutting corners; it must rely on relentless technological innovation, not shortcuts. Our Chinese economy is now the second largest in the world, but we cannot indulge in the comfort of being big but not strong. What does strength mean? It means what you produce convinces others—not by cheapness, but by reliability; not by marketing, but by reputation. A brand originates from quality, and quality comes from the integrity of a corporate leader. To be a person of integrity and to run a business with integrity—respecting users and markets—is the only way to earn respect for your products.

We often say that business should find the right opportunity, but Dong Mingzhu once said that opportunities always favor those who are prepared. The so-called eternal opportunity is China’s bottom line for high-quality development. Our Chinese companies will never bow to low quality, low prices, cutting corners, or crooked ways. Behind Gree and Geely’s success are a few key principles: being true to users, markets, and their own decades of effort.

Let the world fall in love with Chinese Made, and let Chinese cars travel around the world. These two phrases reflect the values of Gree and Geely. They are not just slogans; they are the result of the perseverance in every screw, every copper pipe, and every new technology accumulated over the years. Perhaps this is the most valuable business card China has to show the world.