"Good Brothers" To Realize The Dream Of Chinese Shoes Walking The World

Zhejiang good brother shoe industry Co., Ltd. is a large multinational investment enterprise specializing in the production and sale of sports shoes and leather shoes.

Among the many footwear enterprises in Wenling, good brothers have come out of a successful road to break out of China and to the world. They have set up subsidiaries in Egypt and Russia, and the cooperation between Wenling's head office and foreign subsidiaries in production has made a good interaction, realizing the dream of Chinese shoes walking the world.

Li Chuanfa, chairman of Zhejiang good brother Shoes Co., Ltd.

Character files: born in Wenling, Dashi, in 1972, dropped out of school and went into business after junior high school.

Belief in life: victory is not arrogant, defeat is not discouraged, pioneering and enterprising, always forward.

Enterprise vision: to create a century brand and operate a century old enterprise.

Zhejiang good brother shoe industry Co., Ltd. is a large multinational investment enterprise specializing in the production and sale of sports shoes and leather shoes.

Among the many footwear enterprises in Wenling, good brothers have come out of a successful road to break out of China and to the world. They have set up subsidiaries in Egypt and Russia, and the cooperation between Wenling's head office and foreign subsidiaries in production has made a good interaction, realizing the dream of Chinese shoes walking the world.

When he was 16 years old, he worked with his sister in a shoe factory in Wenling. When he was 21 years old, he pferred to a logistics company and a shoe selling business at the age of 21.

In 2001, Li Chuanfa opened a shoe factory in Egypt -- the China brothers shoe (Egypt) Limited by Share Ltd.

Since then, "good brothers" have become better and better. They have become a successful model for the development of footwear industry in Wenling by their unique business models and technological innovations.

Reporter (hereinafter referred to as): good brother is a successful example of the footwear industry in Wenling. It is said that your business is quite different from other footwear enterprises in Wenling.

Where does this difference manifest itself?

Li Chuanfa (hereinafter referred to as Li): this should start with why we start a company abroad.

Before I started a company in Egypt, I didn't make shoes and shoes in Romania, Czech, Slovakia, Egypt and so on for a few years.

Having been doing business abroad for a long time, I have gradually discovered that foreigners do not welcome us, nor do they welcome our domestic shoes. The reason is that we have encroached on their market.

I think this kind of business is not interesting. To do it is to be a respectable business, so I think of setting up factories abroad.

In 2001, I invested about 20000000 yuan in Egypt to run factories. There were many population, convenient pportation and open policy, and a large number of local workers were recruited to help solve the employment problem. The local government welcomed them.

Since then, our shoes have been processed in Egypt, and raw materials and semi-finished products are provided by other domestic manufacturers.

With the expansion of the Egyptian company's scale of production, in 2004, we built our own raw material company in Wenling. The semi finished products of vamp and upper are produced in Wenling, and then these semi-finished products are processed into finished products in Egypt and sold locally.

As a result, our domestic shoes became made in Egypt, and the locals no longer excluded our shoes. The Egyptian company developed rapidly and accounted for more than half of the market share.

Domestic and foreign processing, at the same time headquarters and R & D is also in the country, this is our business model, but also our enterprises and other footwear enterprises in Wenling the biggest difference.

Reporter: can it be said that this business model is the leading factor for the rapid development of your company?

Li: in a sense, this is true.

Encouraged by the successful operation of the Egyptian company, at the end of 2007, we set up a subsidiary company, Russia brothers Shoes Co., Ltd. in Russia, and successfully entered the Russian footwear market.

Why do I say so?

As we all know, Russia's "gray customs clearance" has always existed, import tariffs are high, foreign shoes are hard to "go" into.

Relying on this mode of operation, our shoes become Russian real estate and can smoothly enter the local market.

Of course, while relying on this business model, we are also committed to technological innovation.

Business models can be duplicated, but the achievements of technological innovation can not be duplicated, which is the foundation of an enterprise's sustainable development.

Reporter: speaking of R & D, where is the technological innovation of footwear?

Where does the power of technological innovation come from?

Where are the products sold?

Li: the technical innovation of footwear is in many aspects, such as environmental protection. Many shoes are made of traditional rubber. After the shoes are worn out, the rubber bottom may not rot in the past ten years and eight years. It will produce harmful gas after burning.

Part of our export to the US shoe sole uses environment-friendly technology, adding 30% wheat straw to raw materials, and the quality of sole is not affected. After wearing shoes, the soles are easy to dissolve and differentiate.

In addition, we also used non-toxic glue, that is, glue made of water.

At present, while we are innovating independently, we have also engaged in technical cooperation with a large shoe manufacturer in Guangzhou. Most of the environmental protection soles are produced in Guangzhou.

Environmentally friendly shoes are basically exported to the United States.

Reporter: when did you enter the US market?

Why open up this market?

Li: the real entry into the US market was in 2007.

As far as I know, China's largest footwear manufacturing base is in Guangdong.

When I visited Guangdong in 2004, I suddenly discovered that many local shoe factories were discontinued because they were basically Taiwanese investors who came in when the policy was loose. Later, investors grew older and had no successors.

These enterprises were originally supplied to the US market, and the suppliers always had to wear shoes, so I felt my chance to come!

At the end of 2006, we began negotiations with WAL-MART. In 2007, when we tried to supply WAL-MART products for a whole year, they still refused to make large orders.

We didn't lose heart. Finally, in October 2008, WAL-MART gave us orders for a year.

Now our shoes are selling well in the United States, and this year's orders are full.

I think winning the US market successfully is a good feedback for us to find business opportunities and seize opportunities for development.

Reporter: in your words, the message is that the financial crisis seems to have no effect on you. Is that so?

Lee: Yes.

Although the financial crisis can not be controlled, enterprises can prepare ahead of schedule.

In 2006, we began to enhance our ability to resist risks and opened up diversified sales channels and successfully entered the Russian and US markets.

The shoes that we export to the United States are basically middle class shoes. When the financial crisis came, more and more Americans went from wearing high grade shoes to wearing low and medium shoes, which won us a bigger market.

At present, the sales situation of WAL-MART in the United States is good, and our shoe sales are also good.

Russia has been hit by the financial crisis and the number of shoe imports has dropped sharply, so that we are more competitive in Russia. Last year, our sales volume in Russia was US $10 million, which is expected to be no less than US $35 million this year.

Overall, exports are expected to increase by 200% over the previous year.

Reporter: as a successful enterprise in Wenling, what do you think of the development of footwear industry in Wenling?

Li: it was luck that used to run shoe factories in Wenling, but now they are different.

If it is cheap, the shoes in domestic Henan and other places are much cheaper, so we can no longer talk about the heroes in terms of the cheap, we should be better at choosing and grasping the market than the grade of the products, so that we can survive and develop better.

Secondly, making shoes in Wenling must be more detailed and differentiated in the industrial division of labor. Before leather shoes can break through the market, now we must adapt to the market demand, adjust product varieties in depth, and constantly improve the competitiveness of enterprises.