21st Century Business Herald: Dialogue with Xiang Wenbo, President of Sany Heavy Industry: Contribute a first-class brand to China

Source: 21st Century Business Herald Reporter: Feng Shuqin Daniel Zhang

For Xiang Wenbo, the five words "*5653 brand" are of great significance, he said, Sany's ideal is to contribute a *5653 brand to China, and Sany's ideal is his ideal.

20 years ago, Xiang Wenbo joined Hunan Changsha Sany Group and never left, gradually growing from an ordinary worker to the president of Sany Heavy Industry. In 2011, Sany achieved sales revenue of 80 billion yuan, and Xiang Wenbo himself also entered the Forbes global rich list, known as China's *5654 CEO.

At the beginning of 2012, Sany completed 5,656 overseas mergers and acquisitions in history, targeting the worldConcrete machineryThe giant German Putzmeister, which is the 5656th acquisition of the *5656 brand in the global manufacturing field by the Chinese construction machinery company.

Recently, what has made Sanyi loud is his high-profile prosecution of US President Barack Obama.

In March 2012, Ralls, an affiliate of the Sany Group, acquired four wind farms in Oregon, and on September 28, Obama demanded that Ralls withdraw all installations and investments within a deadline and refuse to pay compensation, citing threats to U.S. national security. Thus, the Sany Group began the road of filing a lawsuit against US President Barack Obama.

In Xiang Wenbo's view, the profound reason behind the successive US containment of Chinese enterprises is that China's manufacturing industry has risen and poses a threat to the high-end manufacturing sector that has been dominated by industrialized countries for a long time.

A struggle for dignity

We hope that the prosecution of Obama will facilitate diplomatic communication between China and the United States. Quarrels are also a form of diplomacy that pushes each other to listen to each other and understand each other

"21st Century": Sany Heavy Industry sued Obama, how did you make this decision in the first place?

Xiang Wenbo: First of all, the ban signed by Obama is absurd. The first is that other companies have already built branches and set up wind turbines in this place, without any security impact, and the third is to buy investment permits from others, which has become a threat to US national security. Second, the lawyer believes that this is a legal project and that compensation must be given for the relocation, but the US side refuses to compensate, which actually implies the deprivation of private property.

Dignity is important. The United States has always been a hot spot in the hearts of Chinese young people, but the United States has always tried to contain China in various names.

At the same time, we also hope that this event can promote diplomatic communication between China and the United States. Quarrels are also a form of diplomacy that pushes each other to listen to each other and understand each other.

21st Century: What are your expectations for the outcome of this lawsuit?

Xiang Wenbo: No matter what the outcome is, one thing is certain: the two old shareholders of Sany, Mr. Wu Jialiang and Mr. Duan Dawei, will forever be recorded in the annals of American justice.

The outcome is really difficult to predict, and in addition to the legal factor, there is also a political factor. Sixty-six percent of Americans see China as their competitor, suggesting that there is still a certain hostility in the United States. But the prosecution at least let the United States know that the Chinese people and entrepreneurs are dissatisfied with this matter, and that the two governments may take steps to negotiate, and if they don't fight, it means that we have accepted the reality and lost the opportunity.

21st Century: There are many opinions about this prosecution as a high-profile propaganda strategy, including your own saying that the process is more important than the result. What do you think about this?

Xiang Wenbo: China is a large country with a large population, and there will be different voices on everything.

Different countries have different ways of handling problems, and the basic principle of handling international disputes is to handle them in an international and localized way. And the way Americans deal with problems is to resort to law, so suing the president is not a trivial matter, nor is it a very complicated matter, as long as it is done in accordance with the law, it will be respected.

Behind the blockage

The international trade environment is deteriorating, and the deep reason behind the series of curbs that Chinese companies have recently encountered overseas is that we have posed a threat to the high-end manufacturing industry that has long been dominated by industrialized countries

21st Century: How do you assess the overall investment climate in the United States? U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke said that companies like Sany and Huawei are just an example of their investment in the United States.

Xiang Wenbo: I think it's the deterioration of the trade environment.

Over the past 30 years, China has provided abundant and cheap products to meet the high-quality and low-cost life of industrialized countries, so the trade between the two sides has a strong complementarity, but this is based on our low-end manufacturing with high energy consumption, high resource consumption and high environmental pollution. Now that China's high-end manufacturing industry is beginning to rise, and there are even signs of challenging them, the situation has changed a lot.

Solar photovoltaic and information industries, including wind power, are all national strategic emerging industries, but they are all curbed on trumped-up charges, so these things are relatively not isolated, and the profound reason behind them is that we have posed a threat to the high-end manufacturing sector that has long been dominated by industrialized countries.

21st Century: As a landmark event for Chinese companies to fight back against the Jedi in the United States, do you think Sany will affect the U.S. government's attitude towards Chinese companies in the future?

Xiang Wenbo: It should have a positive impact. Nothing can be done in one step, only in the process of continuous struggle, can we get close to the goal, if we do nothing, then we can only stay at the original point.

Even if Sany suffers a loss this time, if it can play a certain role in promoting Sino-US exchanges and allow the Chinese government to have topics and bargaining chips in the process of foreign exchanges, it is very worthwhile, and the $20 million case is very small, but it is of great significance.

Strategic transformation of going global

Sany's overseas strategy is shifting from on-the-ground investment to on-the-spot plus mergers and acquisitions. When an enterprise reaches a certain scale, it must be merged, otherwise it will cause harm to the enterprise

"21st Century": In the face of signs of China's economic slowdown, Chairman Liang Wengen also said that this year is a "small year" for the construction machinery industry, what do you think about the development prospects of the construction machinery industry in the next few years?

Xiang Wenbo: I am full of confidence in the development prospects of China's construction machinery industry.

First of all, China's market potential is huge, China's industrialization and urbanization construction is far from complete, a lot of infrastructure construction is needed, even if the industrialization is completed, a large number of construction machinery is needed for maintenance. Therefore, construction machinery is an industry where the sun never sets.

The second is China's comparative advantage. 1. The advantage of low-cost labor will remain in place for a long time. China still has 600 million to 700 million rural people, and labor resources are abundant, although labor costs will rise, but not quickly. 2. Cost advantage of production factors. The cost of land, construction, steel and other factors in China is relatively low in the world, and the investment cost in Europe and the United States is 5-8 times that of investment in China. 3. China's local advantages, China has accounted for 50% of the global construction machinery industry market, providing the company with the best development backing to catch up with international counterparts.

Third, the vast number of developing countries, such as India, Brazil and other BRICS countries infrastructure is still very backward, the construction machinery industry has a broad space for development.

21st Century: Is the downturn in the industry this year logical?

Xiang Wenbo: *5656, this year's industry situation is very logical, China's economy cannot always be as hot as in the past three years, macro and micro need to be regulated. Sany's sales revenue in 2007 was 13.5 billion, and it reached 80 billion last year, with an average annual growth rate of more than 50%, and such a high growth rate is difficult to sustain.

Second, the industry situation this year is not very sluggish, but the growth rate has declined, but Sany's profit still reaches 7 billion, the company's fundamentals are very good, and the operation is very healthy.

"21st Century": At present, the competition in the domestic construction machinery industry is extremely fierce, and even executives blame each other on the marketing methods on Weibo and other platforms, so what do you think of the current credit sales model of the construction machinery industry? How do you evaluate the current competitive situation in the industry? Is it in the context of healthy competition?

Xiang Wenbo: First of all, the credit sales model is normal and reasonable for the construction machinery industry. Bulk commodities, houses, cars are the use of credit sales, relatively speaking, construction machinery is an investment product, can bring income, relative risk is smaller, safer, from the perspective of asset preservation, construction machinery problems can also be recovered, it can be said that the risk is very small.

At present, all kinds of war of words in the industry are the result of vicious competition. The credit sales model itself is very normal and very safe, but some companies break the rules of the game and engage in radical sales and zero down payment, which has caused widespread suspicion of the construction machinery industry. If the cost of customer non-compliance is low or even zero, it may not be trustworthy and the risk may get out of control.

"21st Century": Putzmeister, as a successful case of Sany Heavy Industry going to sea, what is the current operating status? What are the strategic directions or decisions for overseas expansion in the future?

Xiang Wenbo: Putzmeister is operating very well and has completely exceeded expectations. The first is a 30% increase in sales revenue; Secondly, there has been a significant increase in profits, which have quadrupled as of last year and are expected to exceed 40 million euros for the full year. It can be said that Putzmeister is a very healthy company.

This acquisition also means the adjustment of Sany's internationalization strategy, from on-the-spot investment to on-the-spot plus M&A, which is also a corresponding adjustment made according to the changes in the company's development strength. When it is still a small enterprise, it does not have the strength to merge and acquire, and when the enterprise achieves a certain scale, it must be merged, otherwise it will cause a kind of harm to the enterprise. For example, Putzmeister, as the world's best concrete machinery company, has the best technology, if it is acquired by other competitive partners, it will constitute a strong competition for Sany.

21st Century: How much management and technology are involved in the process of M&A and integration of elephants?

Xiang Wenbo: In terms of management and technology, it is mainly the elephants that help Sany, because the elephants are the world's NO.*. Sany's help to elephants is, firstly, channels, to help elephants expand the Chinese market, and secondly, to reduce costs; Third, financial support can be provided, which is exactly what elephants lack.

Open and flamboyant management

A dynamic enterprise must be an enterprise where everyone's wisdom and talent can be fully exerted, which is naturally related to the style of the first person

21st Century: Recently, there have been some controversies about Sany employee welfare, how is Sany doing in this regard? Sany recently released a draft equity incentive plan with a scale of 178,255,100 copies.

Xiang Wenbo: We have done our best to consider what we can consider for our employees, including all aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation. For example, in order to solve the problem of employee housing, the company has won more than 400 acres of land for employees in Changsha through various efforts, built a high-end community, and sold it to employees at a cost price of 2,500 per square meter. Employee shuttle bus transfer, canteen meal subsidy, free tooling distribution, etc. Another example is to provide regular training opportunities for employees, and our students at CEIBS should be the largest in all kinds of enterprises.

Sany has more than 50,000 employees, such a large number of employees are not everyone is an iron rice bowl, if the performance of employees does not meet the job requirements, the company according to the "Labor Law" dismissal compensation. It is normal and right to make some optimizations to the employee structure and human resources.

21st Century: What is your main management style in the process of managing the company and its employees? As a leader of an enterprise, what qualities do you think you need to have?

Xiang Wenbo: Sany is a very open enterprise, and the employees' recognition of the company is also very high. The turnover of ordinary employees is widespread, but the core layer is very stable.

First of all, the spirit of the sleeve, can bring confidence and hope; The second is a guide who can lead the company and employees in the right direction; The third is to be charismatic, have good moral character, and have the ability to meet the requirements of the post.

21st Century: You mentioned that one of the cultures of Trinity is to "publicize one's personality and express one's heart", why is it so important to publicize one's personality? Does it have anything to do with leadership style?

Xiang Wenbo: A dynamic enterprise must be an enterprise where everyone's wisdom and talent can be fully utilized, so we hope that every employee working in Sany can show their personality and play boldly.

It must have something to do with leadership style, people are divided into groups, and what kind of leader there is has is what kind of soldier.

"21st Century": Sany Heavy Industry is the benchmark of China's private enterprises, but it has inevitably encountered many difficulties and criticisms in the process of development, including the blockage of investment in the United States.

Xiang Wenbo: China's business environment is the coexistence of foreign capital, state-owned, private and other economic sectors, and the legal system is not perfect, so there are many different voices, and it is indeed very hard, but people must always adhere to their own ideals and make some contributions to the country and society.

For me, it is to do my best to contribute a *5653 brand to China.