[Zhejiang Daily] Visiting Delixi, a Wenzhou Enterprise: Pattern is Open and World is Wide

Will enterprises invest and build factories outside the province or overseas, will it lead to the hollowing out of local industries? At the moment when the global industrial chain and supply chain are being restructured, many people are full of confusion. In fact, Comrade Xi Jinping answered this question more than 20 years ago.

At the beginning of the 21st century, private enterprises in Zhejiang were faced with the development dilemma of becoming bigger, stronger, and difficult to operate. Delixi is trying to develop nationwide by investing in factories and capital operations. Hu Chengzhong, chairman of the board of directors of Delixi Group, still has a vivid memory of the situation at that time - he had a plan in his heart, but he had no confidence. Some people were neither optimistic about the company's investment outside the province nor supported it.

"At the end of 2002, Comrade Xi Jinping inspected the headquarters of Delixi, and I reported the company's plan to expand the industry to the whole country." Hu Chengzhong recalled that Comrade Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, expressed his support on the spot and encouraged Delixi not only to To the country, but also to the world. This has strengthened the confidence of the enterprise.

Afterwards, on May 17, 2004, Comrade Xi Jinping, who led the party and government delegation of Zhejiang Province to study and investigate in Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hubei, visited the construction site of Nanchong Guangcai Market, which was founded by Delixi Group and jointly established by several companies. Hu Chengzhong was deeply impressed by the relevant report of "Zhejiang Daily" on May 22 of that year: "Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that Zhejiang must expand new space and seek new development. Zhejiang's economy must jump out of Zhejiang to develop Zhejiang, and Zhejiang enterprises must go out Zhejiang develops itself. This points out the direction for the development of Delixi."

Another May, the reporter and Yuan Hui, a staff member of the Provincial Investment Promotion Center under the Provincial Department of Commerce, came to the R&D centers and factories of Delixi in Shanghai and Wenzhou to explore the achievements and understanding of the company's outward development in the past 20 years.

Integrate With Shanghai and Open up Ideas

Get off the high-speed rail at Hongqiao Station in Shanghai, and within half an hour's drive, you will come to Delixi Electric Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Delixi Group and Schneider Electric Co., Ltd., one of the world's top 500 companies.

In 2012, after the group's Shanghai headquarters settled down, Delixi decided to move its R&D team to Shanghai. "In Shanghai, we have recruited international talents and digital talents with R&D experience, and we are closer to universities and research institutes." Ruan Tao, vice president of R&D at Delixi Electric, introduced that there are currently more than 400 R&D personnel at Delixi Electric. Among the team, 60% work in Shanghai, and they are all talents recruited locally in Shanghai.

Integrating with Shanghai not only brought "talent assets" to Delixi, but also achieved an international R&D speed. In 2014, the "Navigator Series", a power distribution and component product independently developed by Delixi Electric, was launched. At that time, it was an upgrade of the most mainstream product technology platform in China's low-voltage electrical industry. Ruan Tao said that the products have attracted the attention of the industry in the Chinese market, thanks to the technical advantages brought by the joint venture, "When we first started, Schneider, the joint venture, provided a lot of technical support. The product has undertaken the technology transfer from Schneider." Since then, the R&D team has launched hundreds of new projects every year, and the sales of new products continue to account for more than 20% of the company's total sales.

In recent years, the global economic situation has been complex and changeable, and the market has been ups and downs during the three years of the epidemic...Many companies were caught off guard. Delixi has formed a development of multiple domestic headquarters, overseas multiple markets, and investment in multiple industries in the process of "going out". structure, and cultivated the ability to resist risks and achieve sustainable development. Hu Chengzhong said that in the past 20 years, Delixi has strengthened its core competitiveness and sustainable development ability in accordance with the policy of "sweet potato economy" and "jumping out of Zhejiang to develop Zhejiang".

On the shared bookshelf in the tea room, the reporter saw the volumes of "Xi Jinping in Zhejiang". "This book is often learned and updated, and it is very cordial to read this book in the Zhejiang Enterprise R&D Center of 'Going Global'." Yuan Hui said.

Feed Back the Local Area and Strengthen the Chain

Shortly after returning to Zhejiang from Sichuan, Chongqing and Hubei in 2004, Xi Jinping published an article in the Zhejiang Daily's "Zhijiang Xinyu" column, citing the famous "sweet potato theory". In 2005, he published the article "Jumping Out of Zhejiang and Developing Zhejiang" in a column.

How to jump out of Zhejiang and develop Zhejiang? Delixi Electric's method of feeding back Delixi Wenzhou headquarters gives the answer. Today, more than 100 new products are developed in Shanghai every year, many of which are produced at the Wenzhou headquarters. Among the more than 1,400 patents accumulated by Delixi Electric, 80% of them come from the research and development led by the Shanghai R&D team, which also adds a high-value power source to the economic development of Zhejiang.

Following this line of thought, Delixi's "going out" road has become wider and wider, and more and more "nutrients" have been transported back along the vines.

In Yueqing, Hu Chenghu, senior vice president of Delixi Group, took the reporter to visit the "Capital of Electrical Appliances in China". Along both sides of the road, there are a large number of signboards of small, medium and micro electrical enterprises everywhere. Hu Chenghu said that more than 30 years ago, Delixi was also one of them, and now it has grown into the "chain owner" of more than 500 companies.

Zhejiang Berim Precision Machinery Co., Ltd. is a "ring" in this industrial chain. As a Delixi hardware supplier that produces stamping parts, Berim now has factories in Wenzhou and Wuhu, both of which are close to the Delixi production base. During the 15 years of cooperation with Delixi, the output value of the enterprise has increased by 100 times, reaching 200 million yuan last year. According to general manager Shi Bin, the impact of the "sweet potato economy" is not limited to changes in output value. By closely following the “going out” of the main chain enterprises, the supply chain and management level of enterprises can be greatly improved. “Local elements are in short supply, and it will take several times of effort to achieve this by relying on our own strength alone.” Shi Bin said. Around Delixi Wuhu production base, there are more than 40 supply chain companies, 30 of which are from Zhejiang.

"During the investigation, we not only saw the growth of leading enterprises in vigorously promoting the 'sweet potato economy', but also observed a group of 'small sweet potatoes' growing together in the industrial chain. Zhejiang enterprises showed a pattern of 'vines' intertwined in thickness, The situation of symbiosis and progress together." Yuan Hui said.

Hu Chengzhong said that the current high requirements of leading enterprises in the external supply chain have driven a number of traditional manufacturing industries to accelerate the transformation and upgrading. In Yueqing, where Delixi Wenzhou headquarters is located, the electrical industry cluster has been selected as a national advanced manufacturing cluster. At present, electrical enterprises in Yueqing account for 75% of Wenzhou's total. As of 2022, Wenzhou's electrical industry will achieve a total industry output value of about 197 billion yuan, and a total industrial output value of 157.09 billion yuan.

More Sweet Potatoes Growing

Wenzhou is the "class representative" of Zhejiang's export-oriented economy. The genes for exploring more wealth and opportunities are hidden in the blood of Wenzhou people.

Once upon a time, there were not a few Wenzhou enterprises that had the same troubles as Delixi. Looking back now, many explorers have embarked on the practical road of "jumping out of Zhejiang and developing Zhejiang"

According to statistics, the joint efforts of Wenzhou people abroad and local Wenzhou people have formed a "double million" market entity in the city and outside the city, accumulated an "Wenzhou people economy abroad" that is comparable to the local economy, and promoted the establishment of 6 overseas economic and trade companies above the provincial level. The cooperation zone makes Wenzhou a prefecture-level city with the most national-level overseas parks. In the past five years, the return funds of Wenzhou people abroad have exceeded 300 billion yuan, and the return funds of Wenzhou businessmen account for more than half of Wenzhou's domestic investment.