He is the deputy director of industrial communication office in Rongqi town. At that time, it was a common practice to set up enterprises in cities and towns in Guangdong. Many of them come from grassroots cadres in towns and villages. They are people with the most advanced local ideas, and more importantly, they can integrate all aspects of resources. Pan Ning made refrigerators with the technical support of Beijing Snowflake Refrigerator Factory, and the trial production fee of 90,000 yuan was paid by the town government. As a result, this factory became a "township collective enterprise", and this property ownership ultimately decided the tragic fate of entrepreneur Pan Ning. June, 5438+this year 10, Zhujiang refrigerator factory was established, with the brand of "Rong Sheng" and the director of Pan Ning.

The hardships of starting a business can be imagined. At that time, township enterprises were still discriminated against. Pan Ning went to Xidan Shopping Mall, the most famous shopping mall in Beijing (9.42, 0. 18, 1.95%), and a clerk crossed his legs and asked him, "What happened to Rong Sheng? What level is it? " Pan Ning said: "We are township enterprises." The clerk ordered the guests to leave at once. 1986, Pan Ning invited Hong Kong film star Wang Mingquan to endorse the refrigerator advertisement. Because Wang is a deputy to the National People's Congress, he has to ask his superiors before the advertisement is broadcast, and the report is like a stone. Therefore, for a long time, the advertisement can only be broadcast on local TV stations, not CCTV.

These identity discrimination and institutional repression did not cause fatal trouble to Kelon. Like all township enterprises at that time, Pan Ning and his team enhanced their competitiveness. 1In the middle and late 1980s, well-known domestic refrigerator enterprises started with the introduction of production lines. At that time, China introduced 79 refrigerator production lines, which triggered a refrigerator war. Among these refrigerator factories, Zhujiang refrigerator factory is the most humble one, but it has gradually emerged because of its novel style, excellent quality and flexible marketing. Although Pan Ning is not an expert, he regards quality and technological progress as his life. He asked Wang Mingquan to endorse the advertisement, and the planner racked his brains to come up with many fancy advertising words. Finally, he delineated the most plain sentence: "Let your voice speak, and the quality is guaranteed."

By about 1989, the equipment and scale of Zhujiang refrigerator factory have not given way to the state-owned factory. In the Pearl River Delta region, Rong Sheng refrigerator has become the most well-known household appliance brand, and in the national market, it has formed a dual pattern of "North Sea and South Rong Sheng".

Shunde government fully supports it.

In the initial stage of the company, it has always been a very important fact that the growth of Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory can not be separated from the full support of Shunde local government.

At that time, in South China before the reform and opening up, local governments spared no effort to support enterprises, which brought a prosperous scene of "fires in towns and smoke in villages". Among all the towns, Shunde, Zhongshan, Dongguan and Nanhai are called "Guangdong Four Little Dragons" because of their most active economies. Shunde ranks first among the four little dragons, and its full support for Kelon is exemplary. One example has always been talked about by people:1968+In the early 1990s, Panning wanted to expand the factory, but Ronggui Town had no land. The leaders of the town spread out the map, calculated it carefully, and finally decided to blow up a hill in the town and raze it to the ground, so that Pan Ning could build a workshop. A reporter was deeply touched by this and said, "If other local governments are so considerate of enterprises, how can the economy not develop?" So the title of the report is "The Terrible Shunde People".

Thanks to the enlightened and dedicated support of the government, Shunde was really "terrible" at that time. The national household appliance output 1/3 is in Guangdong, and Shunde accounts for half of the country. It is the largest production base of refrigerators, air conditioners, water heaters and disinfection cupboards in China, and the largest manufacturing center of electric fans, microwave ovens and rice cookers in the world. Rong Sheng, Midea, Wan Jiale and Galanz, also known as the four golden flowers of China household appliances, were selected this year.

Deng Xiaoping's three sighs made Pan Ning famous all over the world.

199265438+1At the end of October, Deng Xiaoping, who was on a southern tour in Guangdong and other places, made a special trip to visit the Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory. The largest refrigerator factory in China is equipped with the most advanced production line in the world. Standing in the spacious and modern workshop, Deng Xiaoping was very surprised. He asked, "What kind of enterprise is this?" The attached reply said: "if calculated by administrative level, it is only stock level;" If calculated according to economic benefits and scale, I am afraid it is also the corps level. " When Deng Xiaoping visited the factory, he asked with emotion three times: "Is this a township enterprise?" It is also in this process that Deng Xiaoping mentioned Deng Xiaoping's famous saying: "Development is the last word."

After Deng Xiaoping left the factory, the relevant departments in Beijing announced the national ranking of household appliances production and sales, and the Pearl River refrigerator factory was listed as "the first in refrigerator production and sales" and remained in this position for 8 years.

Deng Xiaoping's three sighs made Peng Ning famous all over the world. At this time, he has reached the age of 60, and it is customary to retire, but no one dares to raise this sensitive issue publicly. Even he doesn't think it's time to retire.

In addition to the sensitivity of age, the more taboo topic is whether the ownership of enterprise property rights is clear. Although the Pearl River Refrigerator Factory was founded by Pan Ning, it belongs to the town government in terms of property rights. At that time, the situation in Pan Ning was very typical. The Pearl River factory is growing day by day, but the management team has no equity. Pan Ning repeatedly expressed or implied that the town government could consider this matter, but the answers were vague. Another headache for him is that after Rong Sheng refrigerators sold well in China, because the ownership of this brand belongs to the town government, some town-owned enterprises took the opportunity to use this brand to produce other small household appliances, which seriously interfered with and affected the reputation of the Pearl River refrigerator factory, but Peng Ning could do nothing about it.

Pan Ning and Kelon's Fate Turning Point

So in 1994, Pan Ning decided to find another way. He transformed the enterprise into Kelon Group, announced the establishment of Kelon brand and entered the air-conditioning industry. In his plan, Kelon brand is owned by enterprises, which can gradually get rid of the strong control of the government. His "independence tendency" certainly attracted the attention of the town government. That is, since then, the fate of Pan Ning and enterprises has become very delicate.

1996, Kelon Electric was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising 65,438.02 billion yuan, becoming the first township enterprise to be listed in Hong Kong. Pan Ning is ambitious and attacks the city everywhere. He has established two production bases in Yingkou, Liaoning and Chengdu, Sichuan, which can greatly reduce the logistics and transportation costs. A particularly important decision was that he announced that he would invest 654.38 billion yuan to establish Kelon's technical center in Kobe, Japan. At that time, the current situation was that the refrigerator enterprises in China quickly defeated the multinational enterprises that gained the first opportunity in China market by virtue of their brand advantages through the "price reduction war". However, Pan Ning knows that to stabilize the market success of local enterprises, it is necessary to have core development capabilities in technology. At that time, all domestic home appliance enterprises were actually some assembly plants, and the core components still needed to be imported from abroad. The core technology of the world refrigerator is controlled by Japanese companies such as Toshiba, Sanyo and Panasonic, so it is an expensive but miraculous strategy to extend the frontier of technological development to Japan. At a high-level meeting, Pan Ning said excitedly, "If we can't install a refrigerator with 100% China in our lifetime, our generation of refrigerator people will be ashamed in the future."

Unfortunately, Pan Ning's "decisive thinking" became a dead end after he quit, so that ten years later, the core technology of China refrigerator industry has not been fundamentally improved.

Kelon Group suddenly announced that Pan Ning resigned as president.

From 65438 to 0997, Kelon realized an operating income of 3.4 billion yuan and a profit of 660 million yuan. Being rated as the best management company in China and the best investor relations company in China by Hongkong Asian Currency Magazine, it seems to be the star of hope for China's refrigeration industry and even household appliances industry. However, it was also from this time that the local government's control over Kelon became direct. This well-known and profitable enterprise has become the best tool for government officials to regulate local resources. 199865438+In February, without any warning, Kelon Group suddenly announced that Pan Ning had resigned as the company's president, and stepped down as the chairman in April of the following year. All his positions were held by Wang Guoduan, his deputy for many years.

According to many memories, Pan Ning was not prepared for this announcement. Throughout 1998, he has been visiting all parts of the country. He wants to buy the workshop of a military factory in Chengdu and turn it into a refrigerator production line. He also went to Hebei and other provinces to discuss the establishment of production bases in the north. According to Zhou Qiren, a Peking University professor who had several contacts with Pan Ning during this period, "Pan Ning was fired, but he was not prepared for it. For more than a year, he has been running around. "

Six "Retirement Plans" in Pan Ning

Pan Ning gave little explanation for his resignation, and he quickly made a decision to immigrate to Canada. In order to express his complete retirement, he made a three-chapter agreement with Kelon: "No office, no pension for Kelon, no shares in Kelon." His last sentence to the media reporter was, "I feel very honored to retire now. Because many well-known entrepreneurs, some have been promoted, some have no successors, some have made mistakes and very few have gone to the execution ground. There are only a handful of entrepreneurs like me who have been working until the age of 65. I am honored to retire gloriously. " He announced that he had six "retirement plans": learn to play golf, learn photography, learn to drive, learn Tai Ji Chuan, read some modern history, and travel with his wife. An old branch of Kelon once recorded a detail: when Lao Pan left Kelon, he left a souvenir for his subordinates: "Serving township enterprises for decades, home appliances have reached the peak." When I broke through the restricted area and entered Ye Jun, I sent a message to my colleagues asking them to take the whip. "

It has been pointed out that the phrase "anger is the first" in the poem is a bit awkward. Is it a clerical error of "striving for the first place" or "striving for the first place"? Pan Ning said with awe, this is "anger", anger and anger for strength, grief and indignation.

After Pan Ning left Kelon, he never said a word to the enterprise that devoted his life to it, despite the constant turmoil in the future. Every time he goes to Tomb-Sweeping Day, he will come back from abroad to visit the grave, and then leave the country quietly, hardly contacting the old people in Kelon.