Text: Tong Ying
Someone said: "There are only two entrepreneurs in China, one is Ren Zhengfei, one is Cao Dewang, and the others are businessmen." "These two entrepreneurs have a lot in common. The two started their own businesses in the same time, both in 1987. It was a time of golden everywhere. As long as you are bold and dare to do it, it is easy to become a millionaire. Wang Shi once famously said: "Our generation of entrepreneurs eat the dividends of the times, not how much ability we have, just to catch the express train of national development." If you switch me to the present to start a business, I will not necessarily succeed. ”
However, Ren Zhengfei and Cao Dewang are very different, they have their own unique vision, Ren Zhengfei started by imitating foreign core technologies, and has now become a leader in the 5G era. At first, Cao Dewang produced water meter glass, and then slowly switched to automotive glass. Through their step-by-step exploration, they eventually became the boss of their own industry.
After they made their fortunes, they steadily occupied the U.S. market, Huawei charged Americans royalties with powerful 5G patented technology, and Fuyao Group, founded by Cao Dewang, won nearly 30% of the market share of U.S. automotive glass. However, after the two companies achieved stable development and made money in the US market, they were treated differently, Huawei was constantly sanctioned by the United States and even forcibly cut off supply, while Fuyao continued to make money unharmed.
Why doesn't the United States sanction Cao Dewang?
In 1985, Cao Dewang became the first Chinese enterprise to enter the automotive glass industry, the largest automotive glass manufacturer in mainland China and the world's second largest supplier of automotive glass. For a long time, he has been "for the Chinese people to make their own glass" as the development concept and goal, and constantly promote and improve their own technology, his company has become the first in the domestic technical level, scale, export volume, fundamentally changed the history of China's automotive glass market dominated by foreign brands.
In fact, Mei moved Cao Dewang a long time ago, and its ending was wonderful. In 1995, when Ren Zhengfei's Huawei switches were sold throughout rural China, Cao Dewang's Fuyao glass had been sold all over the world. It is said that in the American auto market at that time, one in every three cars had glass from his factory. That is to say, Cao Dewang had already won 30% of the market share of U.S. automotive glass at that time, which the United States could not tolerate.
In 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled that Fuyao Glass was sold to U.S. distributors at a price lower than the market, constituting dumping. An enraged Cao Dewang filed a complaint against him in court. In response to the U.S. Department of Commerce's ruling, Cao Dewang hired a well-known lawyer to set up an anti-dumping team, which cost $100 million and took two years to finally win the hard battle. This also became the first Chinese enterprise to win an anti-dumping case against the United States after China's accession to the WTO.
By 2012, Cao had become the largest glass supplier to General Motors, which invited him to build a factory in the United States. After some inspection, four years later, the $760 million Fuyao Glass Factory opened in Ohio. Many people said they didn't understand his options, but he explained that the costs, in addition to low labor costs, didn't add up to low. In the United States, the prices of natural gas, oil and power supply are about 20% to 50% cheaper than in China, and the land funds required to run factories are also cheap. If you build a factory in the United States, the cost is lower in comparison.
At this time, no one would have thought that building a factory in the United States has become a talisman for Fuyao to do business in the United States. This has allowed many people in the United States to have iron rice bowls and live a worry-free life. Residents near the factory also gave a high evaluation to Cao Dewang, and the blow to Fuyao Glass will be directly related to the lives of these workers. Once Fuyao Glass withdraws from the market at a loss and closes its ohio factory, then thousands of families will face bankruptcy, and the reason for the cold teeth and teeth is also understood by Americans. In this way, Fuyao Glass persevered and continued to grow bigger and stronger under the guidance of the United States Z Province.
Huawei is different. One reason is that Huawei plays high-tech, that is, excludes intensive labor, mainly for research and development. Huawei has no factories in the United States, has not solved the employment problem, and earns its patent fees, which is a "white prostitute". Cracking down on Huawei will not hurt the US employment rate, and it is naturally unscrupulous.
Another reason is that Huawei is essentially a technology company. In addition to the mobile phone industry, Huawei is more important than the core technology of 5G. In this field, Huawei has undoubtedly achieved a very high status, and even broken the monopoly position of the United States. Losing the leading position in science and technology is the most nervous in the United States, even if there is such a sign in one field.
To this end, the United States once banned Huawei's 5G equipment on the grounds of "suspected threats to national security", and then implemented a series of hegemonism, such as cutting off the supply of chips to Huawei. However, for Huawei, which has grown up, these have not played any role.
In 2021, Huawei achieved revenue of 636.8 billion yuan, down 28.6% year-on-year, a decline of nearly 30%, which can be said to be an unprecedented phenomenon. Although Huawei's scale has become smaller, its profitability and cash flow acquisition capabilities are increasing, and its ability to cope with uncertainty is improving. Although Huawei's revenue declined in 2021, its net profit rose sharply to 113.7 billion yuan, an increase of 75.9% year-on-year.
Looking at the past 2021, there have been mixed events for Huawei. For years, Huawei has also been subject to U.S. sanctions against it. However, Huawei has never given up and has always insisted on independent research and development to achieve technological autonomy. This is also the reason why Huawei can continue to develop in the face of adversity.
Entrepreneurial responsibility
Entrepreneurs are not only doing business and accumulating wealth, but more importantly, have a sense of social responsibility. In this regard, Cao Dewang and Ren Zhengfei are excellent entrepreneurs in the mainland, and their successful sweat is worthy of recognition and learning.
Since his founding in 1983, Cao Dewang has always kept in mind the help of the state and begun to donate to the society, starting from 3 million yuan donated by the flood in 1998 to 20 million yuan in the Wenchuan earthquake and 140 million yuan in donations to fight the epidemic. In 2021, Cao Dewang donated 10 billion yuan to establish Fuyao University, and claimed that it would be donated to the state after completion, and the university aims to cultivate technical talents in the professional field of foreign card neck. Manufacturing and communications are important indicators of a country's strength, and Cao Dewang can be described as well-intentioned.
Huawei is facing the "storm" of the United States and has not flinched in the slightest, which shows the attitude of Chinese enterprises in the face of crisis. As the People's Daily commented: Huawei has the confidence and backbone, and the most important thing is to do its own things well.
In fact, China has made great achievements in the development of science and technology in recent years, and the popularity of Chinese enterprises in the world has become higher and higher. We have not taken pride in ourselves and chosen extreme methods like the United States, but have continuously improved the level of Chinese manufacturing, making Chinese brands truly irreplaceable, which is the most powerful counterattack against "Americans".