Moderator: Today, this interview is particularly seasonal. Jiaxing streets these days have an atmosphere of the traditional festival, because the traditional festival of the Chinese nation - the Dragon Boat Festival is coming. This year's Dragon Boat Festival has a special meaning for the Jiaxing people and the municipal government. We began to build the project to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. You are a representative of one of the Jiaxing brands of dumplings and the leading enterprise of the Chinese dumplings industry. For you and Wufangzhai, is there any difference in this year’s Dragon Boat Festival?
Li Jianping: Last year, the state made the Dragon Boat Festival a statutory holiday. So from last year, the Dragon Boat Festival atmosphere is more concentrated. I often wonder what links China's 1.3 billion people together. With a history of five thousand years of Chinese civilization, and Chinese characters, those festivals representing the national spirits of traditional festivals are: Lantern Festival, Tomb Sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival. Wufangzhai has the responsibility and obligation to support these cultural heritage, and in the past few years we have actively organized, participated in various cultural activities of the Dragon Boat Festival, including this year’s cooperation with the municipal government.
Moderator: Wufangzhai has four production bases in the Northeast, and the four bases are Wufangzhai’s pillar rice industry. Since when did you have the intention to establish a rice base in the Northeast?
Li Jianping: This is a process. Wufangzhai’s original rice bases were located in Phoenix and Yuxin. About five years ago, we strove to find better rice from outside. We went to northern Jiangsu Pizhou, then went to Anhui Huaiyuan. Later we found better rice in the Northeast. We have spent five yeas finding rice. At present, the four bases in the Northeast are Heilongjiang, Wuchang, Baoqing, Founder and Yanshou. We have invested more than 2000 million yuan, and built nine rice production line with annual capacity of 300,000 tons of rice storage and rice processing capacity of 200,000 tons.
Moderator: When Jiaxing began to build a Dragon Boat Festival project, Wufangzhai has played a role directly and indirectly, and we also feel that Jiaxing citizens feel strongly about your group. But some time ago, the citizens of Jiaxing more or less heard of such a fact that Wufangzhai, except the rice dumplings, is going to produce the different rice products. Rice dumplings and rice products, how do you define the line between these two products?
Li Jianping: This relates to the development strategy problem. Wufangzhai is a time-honored brand and the advantages are its long history, deep cultural background and the disadvantages are aging personnel, old equipment, obsolete systems, and lagging products. Looking back at Wufangzhai’s history, in 1921 the first Wufangzhai was born in Zhang JiaNong, and at that time called "Kee" Wufangzhai. By 1939 and in 1940, there were “Qing Ji” and “He Ji” later. Then these three brands monopolized the rice dumplings industry. Until 1956, when the public-private partnership emerged, the three brands were combined into one.
There were some key notes in history. The first was in 1921, Lanxi businessman Zhang Jinquan founded the first Wufangzhai’s store; the second was in 1956, the public-private Wufangzhai rice dumplings shop was established; the third key point was in 1994, establishment of the first Wufangzhai factory, which changed the traditional production and sales lines. The fourth key point was in 2005, when we invested 2 million yuan to build Wufangzhai Industrial Park, with an annual production capacity of 200000000 rice dumplings, and which is the country's largest production base of rice dumplings.
In the process of 88 years of historical evolution, Wufangzhai has changed its production mode and started with standardized production. We introduced science and technology innovation elements, and established a strong marketing terminal...... So Wufangzhai does not just have the traditional sense of a time-honored brand.
Host: Now if we peel a Wufangzhai rice dumplings, maybe its rice comes from the Northeast, the indocalamus leaves come from Jiangxi, meat originates in Henan, but the employees work in Jiaxing. Each old brand has its local roots, in its process of industrialization and with future globalization, so you, as the group chairman, how can you keep the local culture roots and heritage?
Li Jianping: Jiaxing used to be a land of plenty, but with the process of industrialization, it is unable to provide raw materials for Wufangzhai. Like Wuchang rice, it is planted in one of three pieces of black lands where it gets enough sunlight because of its northern latitude of 40 degrees and local spring water. Jiaxing cannot produce such kinds of rice. Despite the raw material coming from other places, we do not change the heritage and are loosely rooted in Jiaxing, with 88 years of secret recipe, for example.
Host: When it comes to Wufangzhai, the first thing that comes to people’s mind is rice dumplings. And when somebody refers to the rice dumplings, people may say Jiaxing rice dumplings. Wufangzhai’s rice dumping is not only the representative of Jiaxing, but also the leader of the rice dumplings industry. With the great efforts to build the traditional festival culture background, dumplings, in addition to its industrial economic value, it will play a more important role in the Dragon Boat Festival culture. So you, as the chairman of Wufangzhai, how do you define the line between Wufangzhai and Jiaxing dumplings?
Li Jianping: Before liberation, if you wanted to know Jiaxingdumplings’s history, that was Wufangzhai’s history. Before the reform and opening up, Wufangzhai is the only Jiaxing large scale dumplings production enterprise. I did not exaggerate that Wufangzhai gained reputation for Jiaxing rice dumplings . Now, rice dumplings have became a industry in Jiaxing and therefore a lot of enterprises emerged. Actually, Jiaxing rice dumplings accounted for half of the whole rice dumplings industry nationwide. If we define the relationship between Wufangzhai and Jiaxing rice dumplings, first I will say Wufangzhai is a brand, which drives the Jiaxing rice dumplings industry forward with its growth.
Moderator: When making strategic plans, modernized enterprises should be in accordance with market economy rules. As we all know, Wufangzhai is a diversified business, which focuses on real estate, decoration, pawn and so on. In the process of diversification, how do you define the line between the main industry and the sideline industry?
Li Jianping: Wufangzhai, as a modern enterprise group, does have some different industries, some of which have historical problems. Before I started at Wufangzhai, it had existed for a long time. But we clearly know that the core industry is food. The main industry accounts for above 80% of Wufangzhai’s whole industries.
Moderator: With the expansion of production scale and the improvement of the modern enterprise system, Wufangzhai has been trying to make it in the capital market. Have you scheduled the current listing timetable? If it is listed, how will it show example effects for time-honored brands? After all, there are not so many listed companies that are old brands.
Li Jianping: We have been thinking it over for many years, but now it seems there are some difficulties. The company law states that if the number of shareholders of the joint-stock company is more than 200 people, it is a public corporation and cannot not listed. At present, we have 532 shareholders, of whom are 528 natural shareholders and 4 institutional shareholders. This is a historical problem and cannot be solved immediately. But the goal of listing is firm. We have to take other measures.
Moderator: In 12 years, Wufangzhai will be 100 years old. Do you have any plan for Wufangzhai’s future development?
Li Jianping: I think when Wufangzhai is 100 years old, we can realize two strategies I just mentioned. We have been planning that, within the next 12 years, the total sales value will reach 8 billion yuan and profits and taxes will exceed 1 billion yuan.
To achieve this, one has to lengthen the industrial chain. Build Rice Research Institute and terminal sales channels. Another is to broaden our industry, from rice dumplings, to rice, rice products, and Chinese fast food. Rice dumplings are what I want to do today, tomorrow is rice. Maybe I will do rice and Chinese fast food in the future. Eventually we will come true to our dreams step by step.
Moderator: Wufangzhai represents a “harmonious business” spirit. I want to ask, does your personality share some similarity with Wufangzhai’s history, or do you give the new meaning to “harmony”?
Li Jianping: “Harmonious" is one of the most fundamental and essential virtues of China’s five-thousand civilization . Wufangzhai pursues “harmony“ that works together in a harmoneous manner and seeks win-win cooperations. I am a member of Wufangzhai, and “harmony" is also my pursuit.
