on september 6, chairman allen shi set out for yuxi, yunnan province. this third largest city in yunnan province is composed of 90.6% of mountainous areas. featuring mount ailao, mount gaolu, mountliangwang and mount modou, yuxi is reputed as hometown of cloud and mist,hometown of festive lanterns, and hometown of lie er. however, it was not a sightseeing tour, but a visit to chu shijian, chinese tobacco giant growingoranges in barren mountains.
a transformation from chinese tobacco giant toorange grower
chu shijian served as the chairman of hongta group from 1979 to 1996. the cigarette output had an annual growth of 43.93% from 1987 to 1995. rated as one of china top 10 reformers in 1994, he climbed to the top of his life the first time. leading the growth of yuxi from a little-known cigarette factory to a world-famous brand, he has created over 140 billion yuan for the state in 18 years. with a strategic vision, he amplified the strengths of resources and seized the opportunity of to bacco development tobuild yuxi cigarette factory into a chinese tobacco giant and a local financial pillar. the unsound entrepreneur incentive mechanism and oversight system,however, ended his political career and professional career.
on january 9, 1999, yunnanprovincial higher people’s court declared chu shijian guilty of vast corruptionand enormous property without lawful sources. he was sentenced with lifeimprisonment and deprivation of political right.
this chinese tobacco giantfell from the peak to the bottom of his life.
in 2002, he was released onbail for medical reasons. leasing 2400 mu of barren land in mount ailao, hestarted to grow naval oranges with his life ma jingfeng. since then, he hasbeen running an agricultural product base with modern business managementmethods.
today the 89-year-old chu shijian has transformed from a chinese tobacco giant to an orange grower. with a planting area of 15,000 mu, the chu orange has an output of approximately 12,000 tons. in the future, the production will be expanded and the annual output of chuorange will reach 30,000 tons by 2018 and 60,000 tons by 2020. with chu orange,chu shijian climbed to the top again.
▲chu shijian and his navel oranges
a model of entrepreneurs
chairman allen shi arrived atthe house of chu shijian at room. he was told that jack ma left a few momentsago and placed the order for all the chu orange this year. at the mention of chu orange, chu shijian talked about orange growing proudly. a 19-km water pipe was laid to draw the spring water of mount ailao to the orchard, and the orange trees were planted at a distance of 2.5mx3m or 3mx3m. the ready of sale of chuorange has much to do with chu shijian’s commitment to quality.
▲allen shi and chu shijian’swife ma jingfen
over the dinner table, chu shijian shared his orchard management experience with the 1980s-born entrepreneur. attaching great importance to product quality, he has measurabler equirements for his growers. for example, “the fertilizer furrow should be 30cm deep, 20cm wide and 80 to 100cm long.” “each orange tree should be applied with 7.5kg of organic fertilizer and 0.3kg of compound fertilizer.”
▲a cozy home
to realize win-win, chushijian has developed an incentive mechanism. while workers in downtown yuxi hardly earn a monthly pay over 5,000 yuan, those working hard at yunguan chuorange under chu shijian can have an annual pay of 100,000 yuan. when he headed the tobacco factory, people queued for a vacancy at the tobacco factory. now heruns an orchard, people still queues for work at the orchard. his belief is coincidentally identical with the “money culture” of the jiahao group. wellaware that if you want to make the cake bigger, you will have to tell the cakemaker how to divide the cake first, allen shi realizes the win-win of businessand employees by sharing profits.
▲home-made dishes served atnight
talking about the stories of chu shijian in the past, allen shi couldn’t help but exclaim over the fact that one’s spirit would carry on despite of the ups and downs of life. the undisputed chinese model of entrepreneurs has an entrepreneurship that should be learned and kept alive bythe later generations.
▲the host entertained the guestfrom afar with chu wine
headquartered in shanghai, the jiahao group is committed to developing global cultural industries. in the culture, education, photography, wedding dress, haute couture, jewelry,hospitality, film-television, network, finance and industrial real estate industries, the jiahao group has invested in 30 upscale brands. with about 450 subsidiaries, the group has an annual turnover of 10 billion yuan and is gradually forming an independent ecosystem of cultural industries.