Born in a village, rooted in a county town, and overcoming numerous obstacles in talent, transportation, and resources, Fuxing, now 34 years old, is in its prime. It is a “National Key Leading Enterprise in Forestry” and the “World’s Largest LVL Manufacturing Service Provider,” achieving “Top Export Sales” and a “30% Market Share in Japan.”
Over these 34 years, Fuxing has transitioned from a planned economy to a market economy, witnessing the rise of China’s economy and contributing to local economic prosperity. During these 34 years, Fuxing has navigated through waves of labor migration and entrepreneurial trends, avoiding the pitfalls of vicious competition, and has never incurred losses. If there is a model for long-termism, can it be found in Fuxing’s 34-year growth story? If there are unique qualities in Chinese entrepreneurs, can some of these rare and valuable traits be found in the 57-year-old farmer-turned-entrepreneur Chen Changfu?
In 1967, Chen Changfu was born in Wangchang Village, Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province. This small village had land to farm, food to eat, and schools to attend. Chen Changfu lived an ordinary life, just like everyone else.
Until one day, his father asked him, “Do you want to go to school or work?” This gave Chen Changfu his first serious choice in life. After some thought, he decided to go to work.
Wangchang Village, Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province
He went to a local wood products factory and became a young employee. Although he chose to work, Chen Changfu was eager to learn. He learned from the technical masters and the business masters, becoming the most inquisitive person in the factory. Soon, Chen Changfu reaped the rewards of his learning, rising through the ranks to become a salesperson.
At that time, being a salesperson was the most challenging job in the factory because the products had to be sold not only to Chinese customers but mainly to Japanese customers. In the 1970s and 1980s, China’s overall manufacturing level was still relatively backward, and the Japanese were known for being “demanding” and “meticulous.” This tough experience as a salesperson made Chen Changfu deeply realize that quality is everything.
Later, the factory went bankrupt. Unemployed, Chen Changfu decided to take a bold step and invest all his savings to start his own factory.
In 1990, Fuxing was established.
With an initial investment of 50,000 yuan, Fuxing made a profit of 100,000 yuan in its first year, with a net profit of 20,000 yuan. The business grew, leading to the opening of a second and third factory.
In 1998, during a time when having ten thousand yuan made one a wealthy household in rural areas, Chen Changfu directly invested 12 million yuan to build a factory in Lanhong Village, Qingyi Lake Town, Shuyang County. The factory covered over 70,000 square meters and had 16 advanced LVL export product production lines, six high-end plywood production lines, poplar core veneer peeling lines, and urea-formaldehyde adhesive production lines, with an annual processing capacity of over 100,000 cubic meters.
Fuxing Wood Industry Factory
Why was Fuxing able to develop so quickly?
Chen Changfu said, “Adhering to two words: quality!”
He remembers clearly that the factory’s products were mainly sold to Yantai, Qingdao, and other areas in Shandong Province, which is over 600 kilometers from Shuyang County. In the 1990s, transportation was extremely inconvenient, especially from the village.
Even in such an environment, Chen Changfu insisted on personally delivering each shipment with a technician, carrying a tool bag, a nail, and a hammer. They would walk, take a small car, then transfer to a bus, and then transfer to another bus, traveling day and night to ensure that any quality defects caused by long-distance transportation were eliminated before the customer received the goods.
This dedication won the trust of the factory and established Fuxing’s reputation both inside and outside the industry. Subsequently, Fuxing’s products were sold to Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen, with Chen Changfu personally inspecting the goods on-site with a technician.
A tool bag, a nail, and a hammer became Chen Changfu’s spiritual symbol and Fuxing’s quality mark.
As Fuxing’s business grew, relying on one person to strictly control quality was no longer sufficient. A “quality crisis” once sounded the alarm for Fuxing.
In 1993, the East Asian Games were held in Shanghai, and the mascot was a panda. To commemorate the first East Asian Games held in China, Chen Changfu named his board brand “Panda.” Due to its high quality, “Panda” brand boards were very popular.
As Fuxing’s business grew, it opened regional agencies but remained cautious, allowing only one agent per province.
One day, Chen Changfu received a complaint from an agent, “Fuxing is not trustworthy! Why are there multiple agents in one province?”
Puzzled, Chen Changfu rushed to Shanghai overnight and discovered that competitors were imitating the “Panda” brand, producing low-quality knock-offs. “This will ruin the quality reputation Fuxing has built over the years!” Chen Changfu was furious and immediately filed a complaint with the relevant authorities, only to be told, “You haven’t registered the trademark. Legally, others can use the ‘Panda’ brand too.”
This was a harsh wake-up call for Chen Changfu, who valued quality above all. After swallowing this bitter pill, he immediately registered the “Fuxing” brand, not only in China but also in Japan. Fuxing thus became the first company in the county to register a trademark and the first Chinese board company to register a trademark in Japan.
After registering the trademark, Chen Changfu aimed to deeply associate “Fuxing” with “high quality.” He led his team to learn from authoritative companies, spared no expense to hire experts for guidance, and established a technical task force led by himself to develop boards far superior to market standards, making them difficult to replicate.
At that time, the Chinese market was focused on making money, with little attention to quality. “Good enough” was the prevailing attitude towards quality. Few bosses, like Chen Changfu, were willing to invest deeply and patiently in quality.
In addition to product quality, Fuxing also focused on organizational quality control. Chen Changfu further refined the company’s quality management system, ensuring meticulous quality control from materials to the final product in customers’ hands. He also made employees acutely aware of quality issues and established a clear reward and punishment system. Good quality management was rewarded, poor quality management was punished, and major quality incidents led to company-wide reflection.
Chen Changfu shared, “Fuxing has an old tradition: defective boards are gathered in an open area of the factory and burned in front of all employees. The purpose is to deeply instill the importance of quality in everyone’s hearts. Quality has been Fuxing’s lifeline since its inception. Without quality, Fuxing has no future.”
What achievements has Fuxing made through 34 years of strict quality control?
Currently, Fuxing’s products have obtained the highest national environmental certification (ENF), Japan’s JAS certification, the U.S. NAF formaldehyde-free exemption certification, and other authoritative environmental quality certifications. Fuxing has also been included in the “Government Green Product Procurement List.”
As a result, Fuxing has become a “National Key Leading Enterprise in Forestry,” a “Jiangsu Province Leading Enterprise in Forestry Industrialization,” a “Jiangsu Province Key Cultivated and Developed Internationally Renowned Brand,” one of the “Top 10 Brands in China’s Board Industry,” the “World’s Largest LVL Board Company,” and the “Top Export Sales Company.”
Chen Changfu in the “Principal EMBA” Classroom
Quality has allowed Fuxing to establish itself and go global, but the strength of its organizational foundation is the key to Fuxing’s 34 years of steady growth. Chen Changfu shared, “The strength of the foundation is due to Fuxing’s continuous learning over the years.”
While working in the factory, Chen Changfu realized the importance of learning. So, when he built his first factory with only a dozen workers, he emphasized organizational learning.
“At that time, there were no training institutions available, so I bought tapes and organized learning sessions after dinner, turning the canteen into a classroom. We watched DVDs together, and the learning was serious. After each session, we randomly selected people to share their thoughts and evaluated their performance. Those who didn’t perform well were punished.”
Chen Changfu also understood that Fuxing, as a township enterprise, must avoid isolation and keep learning advanced industry knowledge to stay relevant. Additionally, Fuxing’s products were going abroad, representing Chinese quality. Fuxing couldn’t embarrass the country; it had to make the country proud.
Chen Changfu in the “Principal EMBA” Classroom
Thus, the learning gene has always been deeply embedded in Fuxing’s organization, guiding its growth every step of the way.
Under the guidance of learning, Chen Changfu established Shuyang’s first corporate university, Fuxing Corporate University, in 2013. Through regular weekly learning sessions and innovative discussions, the university systematically and purposefully trained employees, helping them learn administrative and management skills, thereby enhancing the company’s management capabilities and accelerating the extension of the traditional wood industry chain for industrial transformation and upgrading.
Training Session at Fuxing Corporate University
Chen Changfu also shared that in recent years, Fuxing has had no upper limit on learning investments. Since engaging with Action Education, the team has continuously participated in the “Condensed EMBA” program, enhancing Fuxing’s organizational learning capabilities. Core management members have also attended the “Principal EMBA” program to improve decision-making abilities. Additionally, Fuxing has introduced consulting services in marketing and branding from Action Education.
Currently, Fuxing has had 90 people participate in the “Condensed AEMBA” program and 11 people in the “Principal EMBA” program. Additionally, they have implemented Action Education’s “Comprehensive Marketing Management” and “Trout” consulting guidance.
Continuous learning has helped Fuxing optimize its talent structure, build a champion culture, reshape organizational benchmarks, and strengthen overall corporate capabilities. As a result, the company’s performance has remained stable and grown significantly, unaffected by the pandemic in recent years.
“Located in a county town, recruiting high-quality talent in large numbers is challenging. Therefore, Fuxing must strengthen talent development and organizational learning to become a learning organization, ensuring stable development. Additionally, this helps local residents improve themselves and gives back to the community that nurtured me,” said Chen Changfu.
Over the years, Fuxing has achieved steady growth, generating tens of billions in revenue annually. But Fuxing’s story goes beyond that.
What defines an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is someone who focuses on a great cause, not forgetting social value while making money.
Undoubtedly, Fuxing has created industry-leading products, driving positive industry development. But Fuxing has also been doing things beyond business, contributing to local economic prosperity.
Since 1996, Chen Changfu has coordinated funds and provided free assistance totaling 5 million yuan to nearly 50 private enterprises, helping solve nearly 100 technical problems. Under his leadership, 26 material supply companies and 158 enterprises with investments of over 300,000 yuan have been established in his hometown, creating four industrial parks: Xiyuan, Dongyuan, Qiangwei, and Wangchang. In 2023, Fuxing achieved an output value of nearly 2 billion yuan, helping 14,000 local farmers secure stable employment.
Fuqing Factory Park
Additionally, Fuxing has supported nearly 50 upstream and downstream partner companies, promoting the joint development of the local wood processing industry and related industries.
Beyond industrial support, Fuxing has also provided targeted assistance to economically weak villages, helping them establish 2 to 3 mature enterprises within two years, transforming them into economically strong villages.
In terms of public welfare, Chen Changfu has donated 20,000 yuan for building a teaching building at the town’s middle school, 120,000 yuan for road construction in the county and town, 80,000 yuan for county greening, and tens of thousands of yuan for one-on-one assistance to impoverished students and 30 orphans in the town. He also established a charitable foundation, donating 1 million yuan in one go.
To date, under Chen Changfu’s leadership, Fuxing has donated over 20 million yuan to public welfare causes.
Now, nearly 60 years old, Chen Changfu has spent 34 years focusing on making boards. While excelling in this endeavor, he has also driven industrial development, helped the community, and consistently given back to society.
The meaning of “Fuxing” may no longer be just about bringing “happiness and celebration” to a family through a board. It also represents a “happiness and celebration” given to neighbors, industry partners, and the homeland.
So, what defines an entrepreneur?
In Chen Changfu, it is the unwavering commitment to product quality, excelling in business, and doing one’s best to benefit the community and the country.
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