Lotus monosodium glutamate, which was established more than 40 years ago in China, because of foreign capital through chicken essence, propaganda to the Chinese people, once faced bankruptcy, but this is still not as wonderful as his former chairman Liu Xiangdong's life, from the director of finance to Lotus monosodium glutamate, and then to the chairman of the guarantee group, today we take a look, the relevant departments of the financing guarantee industry investigation and punishment also proves that China's financial industry is nearing the end of the clearance.
"Brother Dong" was investigated
On January 24, Liu Xiangdong, general manager of Zhongyuan Reguarantee Company, was investigated on suspicion of serious violations of law and discipline.
It is common for the top leaders of ordinary enterprises to be investigated, but because Liu Xiangdong's work experience is quite special, the context of the incident behind it is still worth pondering.
Liu Xiangdong used to be the deputy director of the finance bureau of Xiangcheng City, Henan, but in 2010, he became the chairman of Lotus MSG.
Is it reasonable for the Deputy Director of the Finance Bureau to serve as the chairman of a private company?
This change is not a simple change of position, but involves the intersection and integration of the public and private spheres, and if you avoid violations, this is the point, like Liu Xiangdong.
For example, Xu Liyan, the former chairman and general manager of Anhui Lu'an Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd., blindly expanded the re-guarantee business, resulting in the loss of state-owned assets and causing heavy losses, and was prosecuted.
Traditionally, public officials are seen as guardians of the public good, while private companies are more interested in economic efficiency.
There is a fundamental difference between the two in terms of responsibilities and goals.
Therefore, when the deputy director of the Finance Bureau is transferred to the chairman of a private company, people naturally question its reasonableness.
With the development of the social economy, the boundaries between the public and private sectors are gradually blurring, and more and more public officials realize that the experience and resources accumulated in the public sector can also play an important role in the private sector.
At the same time, private enterprises also need to have social responsibility and public awareness in order to be invincible in the market competition, therefore, from this point of view, the deputy director of the Finance Bureau to the chairman of the private enterprise, in this special situation in China, can be said to conform to the trend of the development of the times.
However, this does not mean that there are no problems with such a shift, and in practice we need to be wary of two tendencies:
First, public officials take the opportunity of job transfer to seek personal interests, and second, private enterprises use the influence of public officials to interfere in public affairs.
In order to prevent these problems, we need to establish sound systems and norms to ensure the legality and fairness of the transfer of public officials, and at the same time strengthen the supervision of private enterprises to prevent them from misusing public resources.
Liu Xiangdong served as Lotus MSG from 2010 to 2014, and now Lotus Health serves as the chairman, but it caused a huge earthquake in Lotus Health.
So, what does this have to do with him? Is our MSG really like the expensive and unhealthy chicken essence cultivated by foreign capital?
The pride of domestic products has survived
We all know that there used to be three high-gloss domestic brands in China's food field, Lotus MSG, Lao Gan Ma and Haitian Soy Sauce, and Lotus's market share reached an astonishing 43.3%.
In the 80s of the 20th century, when the market purchase price of rice raw materials was only 440 yuan/ton, Lotus MSG has realized the importance of reducing the cost of raw materials.
Through accurate calculations and efficient procurement strategies, Lotus MSG has controlled the cost per ton of MSG to less than 2,000 yuan, thus laying the foundation for high selling prices.
However, the success of Lotus MSG was not all smooth sailing, and at that stage, smuggled MSG flooded into the Chinese market in large quantities, starting a fierce price war.
Many MSG companies have lost in this price war, but Lotus MSG has successfully resisted the impact of the price war with its excellent quality and accurate market positioning.
From 1996 to 1998, the net profit of Lotus MSG continued to grow, reaching 55 million yuan, 100 million yuan and 120 million yuan respectively. Behind this achievement is Lotus MSG's keen grasp of market trends and persistent pursuit of quality.
Through continuous technological innovation and quality improvement, Lotus MSG has successfully attracted more and more consumers, thus achieving a steady increase in sales and market share.
But just when all this was developing smoothly, a few rumors almost broke the light of domestic products.
So what kind of rumor is that?
It is very strange that since 1983, Lotus MSG has been making stable profits, but since around 2010, the original major shareholder corruption problem was first found, and then the profit has also appeared to lose money and earn a year, as shown in the figure above.
But what's even more strange is that the profit is only more than 20 million, and the loss is 500 million, so why is it so strange?
It is because of the years when there was no loss, all because of the government's large corporate subsidies and debt restructuring, and 2010 to 2014 happened to be the years when Liu Xiangdong served as the leader.
After Liu Xiangdong resigned, Lotus ushered in a series of huge losses, and was also warned to delist in 2019.
One of the financial calculation methods of listed companies is to amortize profits or losses, that is, for example, if you earn 200 million this year, but you will lose 100 million next year, then you can do it and make 100 million in each of the two years.
The largest financial fraud case in the history of the United States has caused the five major accounting firms to become the big four, and the license has been revoked, which is like Enron, which does finance, of course, there will be no problems in the short term, but if it is a long-term loss, it will eventually explode.
So in recent years, Lotus's financial statements are worth scrutinizing.
But now, after several years of development, Lotus has begun to get back on track, and it is expected that the company will achieve a net profit attributable to the parent company of 120 million yuan to 150 million yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 159.92%-224.91%.
Financial mystery
And why?
It was that rumor that broke.
The rumors of delicate cancer, spermicide, and hair loss have been broken.
In fact, this is all because capital wants to let more expensive chicken essence enter the market and grab greater benefits, but in fact, the main ingredient of chicken essence is monosodium glutamate, and monosodium glutamate is extracted from grain.
Monosodium glutamate, chemically known as monosodium glutamate, is a widely used food additive whose main role is to increase the umami of food.
The main ingredient of chicken essence is monosodium glutamate, and it is a compound seasoning with various food additives.
On the other hand, the ingredient list of Lotus monosodium glutamate, the raw material is only wheat, which is a real healthy product with 0 pigment, 0 preservatives, 0 flavor and 0 sucrose.
It was invented by Japanese scientists in 1908 and has a history of more than 100 years.
In China, monosodium glutamate has been used for decades and is an indispensable condiment in many home cooking.
According to research from authoritative institutions, MSG is safe under normal usage.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies have conducted safety evaluations on MSG, believing that it will not cause harm to human health under normal consumption.
In fact, the claim that MSG produces harmful substances at high temperatures has not been scientifically confirmed.
Of course, nothing can be eaten excessively, so the rumors of Lotus monosodium glutamate were removed, and it soon entered a period of growth, and the financial data of Lotus in those years may always be a mystery.
But it is also possible that with Liu Xiangdong's investigation, and it will be revealed to the world, we must protect such a domestic brand, what do you think?
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