Chao News Client Reporters Xu Yiwen He Lingyao The Qianjiang River is surging and rushing. Zhejiang's private economy has gone through ups and downs for forty years and has entered a critical period of intergenerational inheritance. Younger generations of entrepreneurs have

Chao News Client Reporters Xu Yiwen He Lingyao

The Qianjiang River is surging and rushing.

Zhejiang’s private economy has gone through ups and downs for forty years and has entered a critical period of intergenerational inheritance. Younger generations of entrepreneurs have come to the forefront one after another. They either inherited family businesses or started their own businesses, becoming a backbone force that cannot be ignored among Zhejiang businessmen.

According to statistics, in Zhejiang, about 10% of the chairman of listed companies, 20% of the principals of special new and hidden champion companies, and 40% of the partners of unicorns and quasi-unicorns are "post-80s" . We usually refer to these entrepreneurs born between 1980 and 2000 as "new generation entrepreneurs."

They inherited the spirit of their fathers and were proactive and hardworking in their respective fields, demonstrating the vitality of the private economy. In them, we feel the vitality and enterprising spirit, and also get a glimpse of the secrets of the new generation of entrepreneurs in Zhejiang.

The spirit engraved in genes

In the more than 20 years of research on Zhejiang merchants, Yang Yiqing, executive vice president of the Zhejiang merchants research institute at Zhejiang Gongshang University and director of the Zhejiang merchants museum, has come into contact with a large number of new generation entrepreneurs. According to his observation, Although the new generation of Zhejiang businessmen grew up in good material conditions, they have not lost their spirit of struggle and hard work. Instead, they have shown the same hard work and entrepreneurial enthusiasm as their parents.

“This kind of fighting spirit and values ​​are engraved in the genes, influenced by the hard work of our parents, and have been instilled since childhood.” Yang Yiqing told reporters.

On the 2024 Hurun Rich List, the name of Zong Fuli, vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group, is prominently listed. With a net worth of 81 billion yuan, she became the richest woman in China, detonating the entire business circle.

’s brilliance is inseparable from her inheritance of her father’s legacy—not just her father’s industry, but also her father’s spirit.

In 1987, when 42-year-old Zong Qinghou embarked on the road of entrepreneurship, Zong Fuli was just 5 years old. It can be said that she watched her father raise Wahaha.

Like many second-generation Zhejiang businessmen, after she returned to China after studying, she started from the grassroots level of the company, founded Hongsheng Beverage Group, founded the kellyone brand, and led the comprehensive improvement of Wahaha's brand image. While inheriting the glory of her father's generation, she created a new chapter of her own.

Zong Fuli is unstinting in her admiration and gratitude to her father. In her words, her father's contribution is not only reflected in the social field, but also has a profound impact on her in the company and her own education. She compared her father to a "giant" and said that she was standing on the shoulders of giants and would continue to write beverage legends with both hands.

Zong Fuli was interviewed by Chao News reporter

Wang Kefei, chairman of Puhui Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd., described his father Wang Shuifu this way: "The entrepreneurial and fighting spirit of our fathers will never fade. This spirit is like a lighthouse. Whenever we are confused on the road to starting a business and maintaining a business, it will help us point the way forward."

When Xu Xun, president of Chuanhua Group, was born, Chuanhua's business had just started. Founders Xu Chuanhua and Xu Guanju, their father and son, relied on a 2,000 yuan loan, a large vat, and a bicycle to set up a small family workshop producing liquid soap. During the day, he rode his bicycle from door to door to sell liquid soap, and at night he returned to the small workshop for production. Through his words and deeds, Xu Xun witnessed the hardships of his father's entrepreneurship since he was a child.

On the basis of inheriting the pioneering spirit and business acumen of his ancestors, after returning from his studies, he worked in multiple positions in the company, combined with his personal advantages, actively expanded the international market, focused on cultivating a team of scientific and technological talents, and continuously optimized the corporate governance structure. .

Some of these new generation entrepreneurs have already taken over, and some are about to take over. They not only have the imprint of their parents, but also have more international vision and knowledge. They used to hide in the halo of their fathers and formed a stubborn new force, chasing the light.

Watering by "sunshine, rain and dew"

A good business environment, such as sunshine, water and air, is another secret for the new generation of entrepreneurs to thrive in the "rainforest ecology".

is different from the inheritance model of family businesses. He was born in Wenzhou in 1981. As an outstanding graduate of Zhu Kezhen College of Zhejiang University and a graduate student of the School of Computer Science, Fang Yi is a typical representative of the new generation of entrepreneurs who start their own businesses. The 20 years since

started its business in Zhejiang are also the 20 years that Fang Yi has experienced the changes in the business environment. Fang Yi said that as a listed company started by college students, Daily Interactive , as a "native" data intelligence enterprise in Zhejiang, cannot grow without Zhejiang's favorable business environment.

Fang Yi introduced the company’s related businesses to representatives of the Federation of Industry and Commerce and young generation entrepreneurs from all over the country. Daily interactive official public account

Looking at the whole country, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province was the first to propose and devote itself to the cultivation of new generation entrepreneurs. As early as 1995, Hangzhou City established the Young Entrepreneurs Association to build a platform for cultivating a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Under the guidance of provincial and municipal leaders, the cultivation of new generation entrepreneurs has quickly entered the fast lane. In 2013, the Hangzhou New Generation Entrepreneurs Association was established, and in 2015, the Hangzhou University Student Entrepreneurship Development Promotion Association was established.

In recent years, the United Front Work Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce have coordinated the cultivation of new generation entrepreneurs in the province, and deeply implemented the "Zhejiang Entrepreneurs Youth and Blue Relay Project" and the "Dual Inheritance" plan for new generation entrepreneurs. After years of exploration and practice Under this, a unique system has been formed.

As the most innovative young technology entrepreneur in Zhejiang Province in 2024, Hu Hui, founder and chairman of Ruhr IoT, said in an interview with Chao News reporters, "The new generation of entrepreneurs in the 'Zhejiang Blue Relay Project' The modern ability improvement plan has given me the opportunity to receive the teachings of the older generation of Zhejiang businessmen such as Wang Licheng, and the opportunity to share, communicate, and cooperate with many new generation of Zhejiang businessmen. The team of Zhejiang merchants continues to expand, and the Young Entrepreneurs Committee of the Yangtze River Delta Entrepreneurs Alliance was established in Wenzhou, and the "Yangtze River Delta Young Entrepreneurs Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ivy Plan" was launched. The city and county levels are dynamically improving the talent pool of new generation entrepreneurs. Currently, the number of people in the pool at the provincial level in Zhejiang has reached more than 4,500.

Wherever the business environment is good, there will be funds, projects and talents. From the three "No. 1 Projects" to the value-added reform of government services, from the "32 Articles of Private Economy" to the "Zhejiang Province Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment" and "Zhejiang Province Regulations on the Promotion of the Development of Private Enterprises", a series of policies and measures have enabled new generation enterprises to The heart of the family is more at ease, and the business is more energetic.

The nurturing of a hot spot for innovation

Boldly try and bravely break out. The gene of pioneering and innovative has already penetrated into the bone marrow of Zhejiang. In Zhejiang, everyone wants to be a boss and everyone can be a boss.

Puhui Intelligent Manufacturing workers use cloud mes for digital production. Picture provided by interviewee

Zhejiang has many traditional industrial clusters, such as the small commodity market in Yiwu, the hardware manufacturing industry in Yongkang, and the cultural tourism industry in Dongyang. It is rich in resources and has low entry barriers for old people. A generation of entrepreneurs provides good conditions.

Today, the first generation of outstanding Zhejiang businessmen such as Lu Guanqiu, Feng Gensheng, Zong Qinghou, and Zheng Xiukang have died in the sky one after another. The second generation has come to the spotlight one after another and taken over the inheritance baton, but they also have to shoulder heavy responsibilities and pressures. . Most of the first-generation Zhejiang businessmen are still active on the front line, and most of them have to "help their children get on the horse and send them off for a ride" and teach them step by step.

Faced with the change of life cycle, under the pressure of seniority, experience and aura, the younger generation of entrepreneurs seem somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately, digital transformation, especially the rapid development of the AI ​​field, has forged its own positioning and voice for the new generation of digital natives.

Zheng Laili, the daughter of Kangnai Group founder Zheng Xiukang, took the initiative to seize the advantages of technology and digitalization, promote the organic integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and realize the transformation and upgrading of the shoe industry. Launched the Xinlu Smart Factory, introduced the most advanced AI application technology in the world, created the first flexible intelligent manufacturing system, and realized a closed-loop link covering the entire process from product development and design, production and manufacturing to sales tracking.

Wang Kefei, the son of Wang Shuifu, chairman of Xizi United Holding Group, did not inherit his father's business step by step, but chose to start his own business. He used his own advantages to create Puhui Intelligent Manufacturing to help small and medium-sized enterprises achieve digital transformation. At the same time, the management and technology of the family business have also been upgraded.

"Due to their flexible thinking and ability to adapt to trends, the new generation can make up for the shortcomings of their parents in the digital era and lead enterprises to achieve 'butterfly changes' in innovation and upgrading." Yang Yiqing said that in the context of the new era, the relationship between the parents and the new generation Entrepreneurs should build a mutual learning relationship. Parents impart social experience and management experience to their children, and in terms of technological innovation and business models, their children often have the advantage.

Moving in the direction of new quality productivity, the second generation of Zhejiang merchants did not hesitate. New manufacturing, new materials, new energy, new business formats, and new services based on the Internet and digital technology have been enthusiastically embraced and favored by Zhejiang businessmen. More and more new generation Zhejiang businessmen are heading towards the blue ocean of future industries.

Recently, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce released a series of lists of the Top 500 Chinese Private Enterprises in 2024. Among the "Top 500 Chinese Private Enterprises" list, Zhejiang has 106 companies shortlisted, ranking first in the country in terms of the number of shortlisted companies for 26 consecutive years. Private enterprises continue to become the "golden business card" of Zhejiang's economic development.

Zhejiang has achieved full coverage of 11 districts and cities with companies on the "China's Top 500 Private Enterprises" Source: Zhejiang Federation of Industry and Commerce

The wave is surging and we are riding on the momentum. Behind the glory and glory, the new generation of entrepreneurs still have greater challenges and responsibilities.

While striving to create wealth, how to create real value and meet social needs, and how to promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, as well as the construction of spiritual civilization, is the gap between us and the world, and it is also the challenge for entrepreneurs in the new era. A proposition that will last forty years.