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Struggling In Hardness
The Biography of Mr. Qiu Jibao, DBA of Nation University of USA, the Chairman of the Board of Feiyue Group
The era of China's embarkation of Reform and Opening-up Policy is an era of miracles, a typical one of which is the growing-up of China Feiyue Group.
Mr. Qiu Jibao, who used to be a cobbler, founded China Feiyue Group with a loan of merely RMB300. Within 20 years, Feiyue has grown into a large modernized multinational company, with a total asset of over RMB2,000,000,000.00. Integrated with scientific research, production and trade, Feiyue now boa sts a complete solution system, comprised of new product exploitation, machine and spare parts production, quality control, and after sales service. The brand FEIYUE is honored as China Famous Brand. Feiyue products cover 50 series and over 500 branches, with a total annual production volume of 3 million sets of machines. Backed up by its professional, excellent, special and original products, powerful export strength and strong capacity to earn foreign exchange, Feiyue has solidly become the No.1 in China sewing machinery industry. Besides, with the advantage of high price-performance ratio, Feiyue products possess the greatest competitive power among its competitors all over the world. This is the miracle Mr. Qiu Jibao has made during the past years. Because of the huge contribution he has made to the growth of China economy, Mr. Qiu was recognized and summoned by the heads of Chinese government, such as Chairman Hu Jintao, former Chairman Jiangzemin, etc. Mr. Qiu was even praised by former Premier Zhu Rongji as “a National Treasure”.
On the 16th National Congress of Communist Party of China, Mr. Qiu was the only private enterprise owner who was elected as the representative of the Party branch of Zhejiang Province. He was chased by all the public media. The News Center of the Meeting even organized a special interview for Mr. Qiu and 17 media from China and abroad, which was the unprecedented in the history of CCPC.
On August 27th, 2004, Premier Wen Jiabao paid a special visit to Feiyue Company. He said with full emotion, “If we regard the previous 20 years as a period of Feiyue's fist leap, then it's also a big leap of the whole sewing machinery industry, also a remarkable leap of a farmer like you, Mr. Qiu. Most of all, it's a tremendous leap of our Country. All these achievements are based on Feiyue Spirit, on the 3 tops of the company, namely top technique, top equipment, top management. From now on, you should go on to create a second leap. In the first one, you have made great progresses, from hand-making to mechanic-electric integration, to the application of computer technology. Thus, you have made a single product into an advanced multi-product series, and have conquered many places around the world. I believe Feiyue's second leap will bring even more miracles.
All industries are profitable, but not all companies make money. In Mr. Qiu's opinion, to earn money in a so called outdated traditional industry, Feiyue has to depend on concept innovation, management innovation, and most of all, technique innovation.
Mr.Qiu JiBao has achieved a success because of his unique insight into the market of sewing machines. He thought, among the basic necessities of people's life, clothing is the foremost one. Under the increasing demands of people, the sewing machine industry has a promising outlook wherever at home or on abroad. But at that time the sewing machinery was a typical traditional industry in China, so this industry developed tardily and the quality of sewing machine were not high enough. Meanwhile the sewing machine's revolution was rapid overseas, and lots of machines owning high quality had been produced and wielded worldwide. Under that background, the cruel environment of sewing machine market challenged the beginning of Feiyue Group. Domestic famous manufacturers had occupied the low-grlow-grade markets; and foreigner producers had possessed the high-grade ones.
Mr.Qi JiBao learned much from the hardships and dangers. He decided that an enterprise could develop soundly only by the means of producing the first-class products and exploiting the high-grade markets. During the “7th Five-Year”, Feiyue Group had invested 1 million RMB in the advanced technology every year. In the “8th Five-Year”, the amount of investment had been added up to 10 million RMB 10 million RMB per year. Feiyue Group had completed the indispensable accumulation of capital and technology for ten years. In order to mount the peak, Feiyue Group had invested 200 million into itself, and undergone the perfect revolution by high-tech.
---Having realized the big scale production and marketing, Feiyue Industrial City covers 450 thousand square meters, 250 thousand square meters are standard internationalized workshops; Feiyue Group also has improved the resources allocation. Nowadays Feiyue consists of 6 working areas, Sewing Machine R & D Institute, Feiyue stock Limited Company, Feiyue Imp. & Exp.Co.,Ltd, JinKong Feiyue Branch Conmpany, Shanghai Feiyue Sewing Machine ManufactureCorp.Ltd, and HangZhou Sam Sewing Machinery Co.,Ltd.
---Feiyue has been equipped with high-tech. Before 1996, the equipments of product lines are low-class, and couldn't compete with others in the international market. Feiyue Group seized the opportunities to renew the technology within “the 9th Five-year”. Feiyue introduced the most advanced automatic equipment from America, Japan. Korea, Taiwan (a special district of China), so that Feiyue has realized the automatization ahead of schedule, and has the ability to compete with other manufacturers of the developed nations. Therefore, Feiyue laid the solid foundation of entering the global market.
---To reinforce the combination of production and research, and realize the integration between products and high-tech, Feiyue has cooperated with the sewing machine research institutes of Shanghai, Zhejiang and Beijing. Meantime, Feiyue also has contacted with the institutes of Japan, Germany, and Italy by several forms. Lots of experts from Germany, Italy, and Japan have been employed by Feiyue by Feiyue to establish the Feiyue R&D Center. In one word, the headquarters of Feiyue is supported by the perfect technological system.
Feiyue is exploring to find a proper way to get the scientific research, producing and sales cooperation with Japan, Germany and Italy sewing machine research institutions. Since recruiting experts from Germany, Italy and Japan, Feiyue has set up the communication technology development center in Peking and Japan, and then set up the high technology development center in Feiyue inside and Ningbo, thereby, a multilayer, opening technology support system formed, which is around Feiyue Head Quarter.
-----Take the intelligences storing as stamina of an enterprise, Feiyue established active intelligence policy and excellent treatment for employees, and invite intelligences from home and abroad. At present, by the way of inviting applications from home and abroad, Feiyue Group has owned 10% middle and middle-high intellect staffs, 30% university graduates staffs. Foreign employees in Feiyue head quarter and Feiyue overseas branches have exceeded 300.
There is an effort, there is gain. With several years' large scale technological alteration, Feiyue unprecedentedly improved the ability of turning technology into productivity. Under such a situation, there are 20 new products born every year, and Feiyue successfully carried out the changes from low- middle class products to high class products, from pure industrial sewing machines to industrial and household sewing machines. After alteration, Feiyue industrial machine, including super high speed overlock stitch, cover stitch, automatic high speed lock stitch and integration of mechanic-electronic sewing machine have been more than 50 series, 500 varieties. Moreover, Feiyue raised a drastically revolution to traditional household sewing machine with tools of high technology and new material, and the machines were praised as an epoch making product. Recent years, the new developing products are on the list of National New Products, National Torch Plan and National Debt items. The products fulfilled the national blank in the area, and had been on the leading position, advanced level in the world. The multifunctional household sewing machines have been designated as diplomatic present by the Ministry of Foreign Affair of China. Feiyue had been listed into National Torch Plan Pivot High Technology Enterprise. At present, Feiyue industrial garden first construction had been put into production. Valued 20 million US Dollar high classes machinning and testing facilities, which were imported abroad, had been put into use. Independence researching series Mechanic-Electronic integration products have been produced in big amount.
14 years ago, Qiu Ji Bao was refused out of the door of the CARTON Fair. After 14 year,he created more than 200 million US Dollar foreign exchange for his country.
At the beginning of Feiyue, what the serious situation Feiyue faced is firstly no capital, secondly no technology, thirdly no market. Seeking for chance of living and development of the company, Qiu Jibao took his aim at the international market. In 1989, he took his machines to the CARTON Fair in Guangzhou, the authoritative window of China foreign trade, but he was refused out of the door. The simple reason was Feiyue was nothing but a small private company at that time and the owner Qiu Jibao is not a famous man. In order to meet foreign trader face to face, finally, he decided to climb the ‘wall'. However unfortunately he was caught by the so called security man, and as a result he was fined 50 Yuan, standing there for 30 minutes as a punishment. All the unfair treatments didn't beat Qiu Jibao down, instead he realized one truth:” No strength, no fairness.”
Qiu Jibao's success comes from his unique thinking way and his unusual endurance. He insisted his products could be sold in the world market. Depending on his judgment, he bought a Hong Kong telephone book from a an old lady from Hong Kong with 500 RMB. And then he started his letter trading. Meantime, when he noticed that his machines could do something in South America and other developing countries, he set out for a visiting for purpose of marketing along with a translator who was borrowed from the local government office. And by 1989, the sales profit in those areas had been 20,000 US dollar that fully proved Qiu made a wise decision in the first beginning.
In 1994, it was seen a good beginning for the Feiyue market in Latin America, however the coming economic crisis made Feiyue involved in a crisis shadow. Qiu Ji Bao had done preparations advanced under the situation of changeable market. There was nonstop for waiting under such a situation. The market of South-Eastern Asia and Middle East came into his view. With several years' hard works, Feiyue products owned a good reputation, but the unpredictable thing happened again in 1996, Feiyue met the South-Eastern Asian Economic Crisis, which gave Feiyue a heavy hit on head. The new sales network was broken again.
After Mr.Qiu's careful analysis, he got such following comments:
Because the Feiyue's producing level dropped behind, its trading partners mostly were the second or third class distributors in developing countries, so the information they got was always later than the others. What they always engaged in was the low class products. The financial situation and the reputation of their companies were always weak. Under the name of IMPORT, what they actually did was on credit. Even a small crisis would make them shake, and they always shifted the crisis to the factory. Their less responsibility action trapped Feiyue into a worse situation. Meantime, the developing countries always had such unstable situation, such as, the political turbulence, exchange rate fluctuating. All above elements might cause an unstable economic and market situation. Even though we were watching on the potential crisis in these areas markets, and adopted active retrieval action after crisis, that would still yield negative factors to restrict development of enterprise. If Feiyue wanted to keep developing pace and break away the excess dependences from the developing countries, Feiyue should invest more in technology innovation, foster more suitable products to meet the demand of developed countries, such as European market, USA and Japan.
“Development is the only way for survival.” Qiu Ji Bao purchased a small size factory in Japan and employed sewing machine experts from Germany, Italy, Japan and recruited technological talents to develop new high-tech products. On the other hand, Qiu invested big quantity of capital for technological innovation and reformation. He imported hundreds of world first class machining centers from USA, Korea and Taiwan. Feiyue was stepping into brand new developing stage. He took the good opportunity to import high technology equipments and realized equipment automatization two years ahead of schedule and saved capital of investment nearly 1000 million yuan less than the budget all that were greatly praised by the Chinese famous economist Wu Jin Liang.
During the period of Asian Financial crisis, Feiyue seized the chance to import big quantity of first-class equipment and realized the modernization of its facilities which resulted in a huge reformation and development of its products and internationalization of its marketing. Based on ISO9002, Feiyue went on to get most products approved by CE, GS, UL and Tuv and stepped into a wide path to European and American market. In 1999, Feiyue successfully launch batch products in Japan that finished the long history of one way business from Japan to China.
Since then, Feiyue has accelerated to step into the world first class enterprises. By establishing 18 branches in 17 countries such as USA, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, UAE etc, Qiu Ji Bao brought 60% of his products into more than 120 countries, among which 50% are for developed countries such as European countries, Japan and USA. Nowadays Feiyue's export volume as well as other compound index has been ranked the No.1 steadily among the Chinese sewing machine industry. It has been recognized as the most active manufacturer of sewing machinery by the world sewing machine organizations.
Those who are with great ambition can do big deal. Qiu Ji Bao did make it.
“To be thankful to all who has ever helped you”. The virtue of Chinese people was perfectly displayed by Qiu Ji Bao. According to statistics, Feiyue has contributed totally 60 million yuan to the society since it was founded, including education, charity and welfare and created more than 5000 jobs directly and 300,000 indirectly.
Standing in the new century, Qiu Ji Bao has made his further objectives. He put forward his theory of four “persisting”: Persisting in leading a new industrialized road; persisting in “advanced manufacture”; persisting in our major industry that is sewing machine; persist in internationalization to make Feiyue to be the most excellent whole set sewing machine manufacturer and truly make highlight of “made in China” in the world.
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