Editor's note: They are down-to-earth and brave; They, with dreams, win glory; They, forging ahead, rushed into the distance...
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, countless strivers across the country and different industries have forged ahead and forged ahead on the road to realizing the Chinese dream.
From October 14, 2022, the Voice of the Economy of China Central Radio and Television launched the media integration report "On the Road to Chasing Dreams", inviting dreamers to vividly tell their personal experiences in rejuvenating the country through science and technology, poverty alleviation, cultural inheritance, ecological protection, etc., showing the ever-changing development of all walks of life in Shenzhou.
In this report, let's follow Zhuang Dan, executive director and president of Changfei Optical Fiber and Cable Co., Ltd., into the "China Optics Valley" located in Wuhan, Hubei Province, and listen to the story of Changfei from a "follower" and "imitator" to a "leader".
Hubei Wuhan East Lake New Technology Development Zone, also known as "China Optics Valley", is the only national independent innovation demonstration zone named after "light" in the country, and it is also one of the regions with the strongest vitality of scientific and technological innovation and the fastest economic growth in the central region. The name of Optics Valley originated from China's first optical fiber with practical value pulled out here in 1976, and since then it has flourished and concentrated light in the valley.
The world's most advanced optical fiber drawing manufacturer - Changfei Optical Fiber and Cable Co., Ltd. is located here.
first
Zhuang Dan, executive director and president of Changfei Optical Fiber and Cable Co., Ltd., told us that since 2016, Changfei has ranked first in the world in the preform optical fiber and optical cable industry chain for six consecutive years, and behind this achievement is the unremitting efforts of countless Changfei people to realize the "Changfei Dream".
In 2013, 2018 and 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Optics Valley three times. Among them, on July 21, 2013, the general secretary came to Changfei, climbed to the top of the 30-meter-high drawing tower, braved the high temperature of the wire drawing furnace, and watched the process of melting and drawing the fiber preform, such a scene Zhuang Dan remembered.
△Zhuang Dan, executive director and president of Changfei Optical Fiber and Cable Co., Ltd. (left), was interviewed by "Chasing Dreams" (photo by Zhang Dazhan)
"At that time, I reported to the general secretary that we Changfei people have a 'Changfei dream' under the guidance of the 'Chinese dream', and Changfei is also in the process of chasing the dream. At that time, the general secretary asked me, what is your 'long flying dream'? I said we want to be number one in the world. Zhuang Dan still can't hide his excitement when he recalled the scene when the general secretary came to Changfei to inspect nine years ago. The general secretary immediately asked me, how long will it take you to realize the 'dream of long flight'? I replied that I think this goal is achievable by 2020. In fact, four years in advance, in 2016, Changfei achieved the world's first place in the entire industry chain of preform optical fiber and optical cable. From 2016 to the present, it has maintained the world's first place every year for six consecutive years. Zhuang Dan is full of pride.
"I remember very clearly that the general secretary came to Changfei on July 21, 2013, and the inspection process took 25 minutes longer than expected. It took so long because I reported to the general secretary that all you see now is imported equipment, and the workshop inside is our own earthen guns and cannons, but it is better done than foreign guns and cannons, so the general secretary was very interested and went to see the domestic equipment produced by Changfei. ”
△ Zhuang Dan (right) explains the production process of optical fiber and cable to reporters (photo by Zhang Dazhan)
Changfei has the world's most advanced optical fiber wire drawing production line, which can produce the world's largest size optical fiber preform with a diameter of 230 mm. Zhuang Dan described that the fiber drawing tower is a bit like a rocket launch tower, where the preform is converted into liquid by high temperature, and after a length of more than 30 meters, the pulled fiber is quickly cooled.
Zhuang Dan said: "Such an optical fiber, 8 billion people call through it at the same time, will not occupy the line; In a gigabit bandwidth environment, it only takes a second to download a blockbuster. Technology changes life, technology changes human beings, this optical fiber is a very good embodiment. ”
Counterattack
"Before 2000, all our technology, raw materials, even just one spare part, had to be imported from abroad." Zhuang Dan told us that this method is not only highly dependent, but also very costly in terms of time and economy. "So in 2000 we set up our own R&D department, and in 2001 we set up an R&D center, so that we really started to have our own technology."
Also in 2001, the bursting of the Internet bubble in the United States and even the world gave Changfei a chance.
"After the bursting of the Internet bubble, the price of optical fiber immediately fell in half. That year, many foreign fiber companies went bankrupt, for a simple reason, which is equivalent to building a lot of highways at that time, but there were no cars running on the highway, what to do? It just so happens that Changfei began to do independent research and development in 2000, and our spare parts began to be localized. Until now, regardless of whether the market is good or not, Changfei's annual R&D investment accounts for more than 5% of the total sales revenue. ”
The high proportion of R&D investment has enabled Changfei to complete a rapid breakthrough in core technology in a short period of time, and realize a comprehensive transformation from "following" to "running together" to "leading". Zhuang Dan told us that all the equipment for making preform optical fiber and cable is now independently designed and synthesized and is in its own hands.
△The world's largest optical fiber preform independently developed by Changfei (Photo provided by Changfei Optical Fiber and Cable Co., Ltd. issued by China Central Broadcasting Network)
In 2017, Changfei became the only enterprise in the world that mastered the three mainstream preform preparation technologies and realized industrialization, truly becoming the "leader" of the global industry. Subsequently, Changfei took the lead in developing a new optical fiber product for the next generation of communication technology - self-developed G.654.E ultra-strong ultra-low attenuation optical fiber, which is world-leading, and the standard is also formulated by Changfei.
Zhuang Dan said that compared with conventional optical fiber, G.654.E significantly improves the long-distance transmission performance of 100G, 200G, 400G and future higher-speed networks, and is recognized as an effective solution for the next generation of ultra-high-speed long-distance optical transmission performance optimization. "Made in China, Chinese creation to the forefront of the world is not an empty phrase, in our industry, G.654.E represents the direction of future optical fiber, in this aspect we have left many foreign competitors, including Europe and the United States, behind, is also very proud."
reform
Breaking through technical problems, if the company wants to achieve further development, capital investment is a new problem faced by Changfei, and the first work Zhuang Dan did at that time was to persuade shareholders to reform and list. Zhuang Dan proposed to the board of directors to solve the company's sustainable development problems by going public and using the capital market to raise funds.
"A very good change after becoming a listed company is to optimize the corporate governance structure, if major strategic issues are involved, the board of directors votes according to the proportion of directors' shareholding, and also considers the interests of small and medium-sized shareholders, especially public shareholders." Zhuang Dan told us that this is very different from Changfei's previous three-party shareholder model. Under the traditional structure, every director of Changfei has veto power, and in the process of making independent research and development decisions, foreign directors will not support it if they feel that they have deviated from the direction they expected. "In the process of continuous expansion of fiber optic preforms, there is a 30 million yuan of preform research and development expenses foreign directors who disagree, he believes that we are taking the independent line, and if we do not follow his line, we veto it."
In this process, the support of the local government solved Changfei's urgent needs. "At that time, when the director of the management committee of the development zone came to investigate, he understood our difficulties and said, we support you. The government gave Changfei 30 million yuan for research and development, and it was the investment of this fund that solved the very important technical problems of Changfei's large-scale preform project. ”
△ Optical fiber preform in the drawing tower melting and drawing process (photo by Zhang Dazhan)
Chasing dreams
"After you are first, you have to stay first, in fact, I think it is more difficult to stay first than to be first. Because there is no one ahead to lead you, but you are going to lead everyone. After leading, how to judge the future development trend of the industry and constantly lead the industry in a new direction in technology is a great challenge for us. From following others to formulate standards to developing international standards by myself, I hope to use these new products to turn Changfei's corporate standards into international standards and lead the next development of the industry. Zhuang Dan said.
In the past, Changfei focused on the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and now, it aims at the new track to do silicon carbide and actively layout the third-generation semiconductor. In Zhuang Dan's words, it is the second, third and fourth growth curves of diversification and expansion of Changfei.
Zhuang Dan said: "In terms of the main business, we must continue to ensure the number one position in the world. But will not only be satisfied with multi-core fiber, now there are many new optical fibers and technologies as the future development direction, Changfei will also actively prepare, to reserve, research and development, investment. ”
△On October 16, 2022, the 1 million core kilometer of qualified optical cable of Changfei Poland factory was launched (Photo provided by Changfei Optical Fiber and Cable Co., Ltd.)
The main business is intensive cultivation, internationalization and diversification go hand in hand, which makes Changfei successfully pass through the cycle again and again, do not be a vassal, and firmly grasp the core technology in its own hands, which is also the key to it becoming the first, winning the first place in a row, and achieving "leadership".
"For more than 40 years of reform and opening up, many Chinese companies are doing domestic substitution and using the market to exchange foreign technology. The next 40 years will be the 40 years for Chinese companies to go global, and we hope that Changfei can go a little faster than others in this process. At the same time, I hope that Changfei can serve as a model in the industry, a model for Chinese enterprises to go global, and use technology to bring value to different customers around the world, bring the latest products and the best service! Zhuang Dan said.