ThevillageofYigaoinZhiliTown,HuzhouCityofeastChina鈥檚ZhejiangProvince,duringtheFourthGuchengCulturalTourismFestivalonJanuary13COURTESYPHOTO
PuXinquan,ManagingDirectoroftheKingBoy&KingGirlClothesCo.,isanimatedasheintroducesayellowchildren鈥檚hoodietoacustomeronAugust22atoneofhisstoresinZhili,asmalltownineastChina鈥檚ZhejiangProvince.
鈥淭hispulloverismadefrom100-percentcotton.Itisstretchyandcomfortableforkids,andisalsothelateststylethisautumn,鈥漢esaid.
Likemanyothersuccessfulbusinesspeopleinthetown,Pudidnotreceivemuchofaneducationandstartedworkingatanearlyagetryingmanydifferentfields.Duringthe1990s,manypeoplearoundhimbegantomakeafortuneinthechildren鈥檚wearindustry.Pu,seeingthehugebusinesspotential,tooktheplunge.
鈥淚n1996,Ibought2mu(1,333squaremeters)oflandandsixsewingmachinestobuildasmallworkshop,andstartedmycareer,鈥漃utoldChinAfrica.Aftertwodecadesofdevelopment,Pu鈥檚familyworkshopgrewintotheKingBoy&KingGirlClothesCo.,whichregisteredsalesofaround270millionyuan($40million)in2017.
Pu鈥檚storyreflectstheleapfrogprogressofhishometown,Zhili,whichevolvedfromasmall,poorvillageintoaprosperoustownwithoneofthemostthrivingprivateeconomiesinChina,overthefourdecadessincetheintroductionofthereformandopening-uppolicyin1978.
Children鈥檚wearcapital
Zhili,asmalltownlocatedinHuzhou,haslongbeenknownasthecenterofChina鈥檚children鈥檚wearindustry.Therearearound13,000companiesproducing1.3billionpiecesofclothinginthetowneveryyear,whichequatestomorethan50percentofChina鈥檚children鈥檚clothing.In2017,Zhili鈥檚totalGDPreached20.3billionyuan($3billion).
Yetinthe1970s,itwasarundownvillagewherethelocalpeoplestruggledtoekeoutabasicexistence.鈥淎tthattime,Zhiliwasknownasabackwaterduetorapidpopulationgrowthandlimitedarableland,鈥漵aidWuZhiyong,SecretaryoftheCommunistPartyofChinaWuxingDistrictCommitteeinHuzhou.PuXinquan,ManagingDirectoroftheKingBoy&KingGirlClothesCo.,introducesachild鈥檚hoodietoacustomeronAugust22inZhiliWENQINGZhiliremainedthiswayuntiltheimplementationofreformandopeningupin1978.Inthemid-1980s,thosewithasharpbusinessmindsweretryingtheirhandatthechildren鈥檚wearindustry,whereprofitswerebiggerthanotherareasofworkatthetime.鈥淓veryhouseholdcouldbecomeasmallfamilyworkshopaslongasithadasewingmachine,鈥漌unoted.Thechildren鈥檚wearindustryboomedinZhilithroughoutthe1990sfollowingDengXiaoping鈥檚speechesonhistourofthesouthin1992,inwhichhecalledforlocalgovernmentstotakemoremeasurestodeepeneconomicreform.
Afterfourdecadesofdevelopment,Zhilihasestablishedacompleteindustrychainofchildren鈥檚wearfromdesignandmanufacture,tostorage,logisticsandretail.
Zhili鈥檚developmenthasalsoprovidedopportunitiesforpeoplefromotherpartsofthecountry.Thetown鈥檚reputationhasattracted350,000peoplefromacrossChina.
ForCaoMiaohongandhiswife,whocomefromeastChina鈥檚AnhuiProvince,Zhilihasbecometheirsecondhome.鈥淢ywifeandIworkassewingmachineoperatorsatachildren鈥檚wearfactorywherewecanearn160,000yuan($23,000)ayearwithathree-monthholiday,鈥滳aosaid.TheinfluxofpeoplehasinturnprovidedrichhumanresourcesforthefurtherdevelopmentoftheindustryinZhili.
Brandbuilding
Despiteitssuccess,Zhili鈥檚entrepreneursarenotabouttorestontheirlaurels.Inrecentyears,children鈥檚wearbusinesseshavebeenstrivingtoupgradethemselvesbynurturingmorefamousbrandsandexpandingsalesviae-commerce.
Accordingtoresearchprovidedbythelocalgovernment,over80percentoftheprofitfromoneitemofchildren鈥檚clothingisgeneratedbydesignandmarketingprocesses.In2013,thelocalgovernmentinvested20millionyuan($2.9million)intheconstructionofChina鈥檚firstdesigncenterforchildren鈥檚wear,whichisequippedwithsupportingfacilitiessuchasanindependentstudio,catwalkanddesignsalons.
鈥淢anysmallfactoriesusedtoimitatethestylesofotherbrandsastheyhadnoprofessionaldesignteams,amongwhichQirui&Dezewasaprimeexample.Butimitationmeantthatthesecompanieslackedclearpositioningandstyle,鈥漎eFangping,OperationManageratthedesigncenter,toldChinAfrica.
Aftertheestablishmentofthecenter,morethan20designteamswith240residentdesignersmovedin.Througheffortstoimprovetheirdesigncapability,manycompanieshavesucceededinbuildingdistinguishablebrands.TheclothesofQirui&Dezearenowdefinedbycottonandlinenmaterialsinpastoralstyle,accordingtoYe.
TheZhiliGovernmentisalsoplanningvariousmeasurestohelpcompaniesenhancetheircomprehensivestrengthandcompetitiveness.ItissettoestablishaChinaChildren鈥檚WearCollegeincooperationwithHangzhouVocationalandTechnicalCollege,aimingtocultivateprofessionalsfortheZhilichildren鈥檚wearindustry.
Besidesimprovingdesigncapacity,companiesarealsomakingeffortstoupgradetheirmarketingmethods.Withtheriseofe-commerce,businessesareaimingtoexpandtheirsalesthroughtheInternet.Withapopulationofover3,000,Dahe,avillageundertheadministrationofZhiliTownship,hasmorethan700e-commercecompanies.
E-commercehasalsoprovidedcompaniesinZhiliwithaccesstoforeignmarkets,wherecompanieslikeB.YCRKidCo.nowexporttomorethan10countriesandregions,withsalesexceeding$1,500perday.
Entrepreneurialspirit
ThetaleofmostentrepreneursinZhiliisoneofragstoriches,andtheycontinuetodisplaythehardworkingspiritoftheirrootsastheystrivetokeepapaceofrapiddevelopmentinscienceandtechnology.Many,havingmademajorprogressintheirbusinessventures,alsoparticipateincharityworkinanattempttogivebacktosociety.
鈥淓ntrepreneursshouldnotonlythinkaboutmakingprofit.Wemustalsogivebacktosociety,鈥漵aidPanAxiang,CEOofAxiangGroup.Aformerfarmer,Pan鈥檚successstoryisinspiring.Althoughhecannotreadorwrite,hewatchespoliticalandeconomicnewsbroadcastsontelevisioneverydaytogainabetterunderstandingofnationalpolicies,ahabitwhichhashelpedhimfindmanynewbusinessopportunities.
Inthelate1990s,answeringthegovernment鈥檚calltodevelopthetelecommunicationindustry,Panactedquicklyandbuiltasmallcablefactory,whichwentontobecomethecoreofhisbusinessconglomerate.
CarefullymarryingnationalpolicywiththeneedsofthemarkethasbeenthekeytoPan鈥檚success.Today,hisAxiangGrouphasexpandedtoincludebusinessventuresinaluminumalloy,linenandtextiles,andequipmentmanufacturing,withsalesof3billionyuan($437million)in2017.
IncreasingintandemwithPan鈥檚businesssuccessarehisphilanthropicprojects,andhehasdonated80millionyuan($11.7million)tocharityinrecentyears.鈥淲eentrepreneurshavebenefitedalotfromsociety,andwemustgiveback,鈥漢esaid.
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