There are Olympic champions, and there are also champions in manufacturing. There are such a group of Chinese enterprises, they may not be well known to the general public, but they are shining in the industry and have a significant voice; They may not be so large, but they firmly occupy an absolute share of the global market segment, and even set the rules of the industry. They are the “single champions” of manufacturing.

In 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Implementation Plan for the Cultivation and Promotion of Individual champion Enterprises in the Manufacturing Industry. Over the past five years, China has selected five batches of 596 individual champion enterprises (products), including 340 demonstration enterprises and 256 individual champion products. Driven by the demonstration of the benchmark, more enterprises have embarked on the road of single champion development and helped the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

In the 1980s, the famous German management scientist Hermann Simon proposed the concept of “hidden champions”, which mainly refers to small and medium-sized enterprises that are in the leading position in the industry and have the vast majority of market share, but are not known by the majority of the general public. According to the actual development of its own manufacturing industry, China has put forward the unique concept of “single champion”.

What are the differences between the two? “Single champion” refers to enterprises that have long focused on specific segments of the manufacturing product market, led the production technology or process internationally, and ranked top in the market share of single products in the world. “‘ Hidden champions’ are not known because their products are mostly intermediate products, not for the end-mass market, and ‘individual champions’ are not limited to that.” But both are examples of long-term focus on related fields to become global market segment leaders, said Wu Aiqi, a professor at Zhejiang University’s School of Management.

The 596 individual champion enterprises (products) identified by China are mainly distributed in 23 manufacturing categories. Among them, there are more individual champions in the machinery, electronic information and petrochemical industries, and enterprises in advanced manufacturing and emerging fields such as precision optics and precision bearings are also emerging. In terms of geographical distribution, the number of eastern regions is larger, and the central and western regions are also increasing.

As the industry leader, how high is the gold content of “single champion”? Xiong Meng, executive vice president and secretary-general of the China Federation of Industrial Economics, pointed out that from the perspective of main business income, the three-year average growth rate of single champion enterprises was 21.9%, much higher than the 7.8% of industrial enterprises above designated size; In terms of profit growth, 60.6% of enterprises have an average annual growth rate of more than 10% in the past three years, of which 340 demonstration enterprises have reached 18.2%.

Thanks to their outstanding quality, efficiency and anti-risk capabilities, a large number of Chinese individual champion enterprises have bucked the trend and become an important force to strengthen the chain and solve the problem of “blocking the neck”.

The manufacturing industry has always been a strong guarantee for national prosperity and rejuvenation. At present, China’s manufacturing industry is in a critical stage of becoming stronger and climbing uphill. “The single champion enterprise represents the highest level of the global segmentation industry and is the leader and vanguard of the development of the manufacturing industry.” Wu Aiqi said that fully tapping the “champion” success gene and cultivating more individual champion enterprises are of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry and accelerating the construction of a manufacturing power.

Focus and innovation are key

Only by focusing on the main business and persevering can we become bigger and stronger. The data show that the average years of the first five batches of individual champion enterprises engaged in the main product field are 24.3 years. “To build a single champion is not a day’s work, it takes decades to focus on the segmentation of the field, especially to bring their own advantages to the extreme.” Once, the factory received an order from a foreign company, but due to backward production equipment and other reasons, the products produced have always been unable to meet the standards.

“When are we going to produce advanced optical instruments?” It is this persistence that makes today permanent. From leading the country’s first international standards in the field of microscopy, to applying a number of optical lenses to the “Chang ‘e” satellite and space microscopic experiment instrument into the “Tianhe” core module, Yongxin Optical’s dedication to creating high-end optical instruments has never changed.

Xugong Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. also knows the importance of focus. The first domestic truck crane, the first all-ground crane, the first 100-ton crane, the first thousand-ton crane, and the “world’s first crane” have been unveiled, which is a vivid witness of Xugong’s down-to-earth and long-term cultivation. Wang Min, chairman and Party secretary of Xugong Group Construction Machinery Co., LTD., told reporters that in the 1990s, Xugong Heavy had been on the brink of bankruptcy, but the company still focused on the crane industry, “decades of grinding a sword, adhere to the strategic focus of the main industry played a key role.”

Continuous R & D innovation is the base of winning the right to speak. According to statistics, the research and development expenditure of the first five batches of individual champion enterprises accounted for an average proportion of 5.14% of the main business income in the past three years, which is higher than the 3.6% of the global 1000 enterprises, and far higher than the 1% of industrial enterprises above designated size. Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd. is a global professional supplier of automotive glass. Ye Shu, president of Fuyao Group, told reporters that for the space and beauty of cars, more and more models use intelligent panoramic canopy to replace traditional skylight glass, which is characterized by large glass area, high strength, and intelligent adjustment of glass transmitter and lighting atmosphere. Through research and development, Fuyao can now produce the world’s largest and most advanced intelligent canopy, with independent intellectual property rights. “It can be said that our innovative breakthrough in panoramic sky curtain technology makes Chinese sky curtain glass shine in the world!”

“In the refrigerator industry, people have always paid more attention to refrigeration preservation and ignored freezing preservation, and many consumers will encounter problems such as thawing, bleeding water and discoloration of ingredients in their daily lives.” Zhao Yanfeng, vice president of Haier Wisdom ecological platform and general manager of refrigeration industry, said that Haier has continued to invest in the research and development of freezing preservation technology, and launched a full-space preservation refrigerator to fill the gap in freezing preservation technology in the industry.