Chapter 23 Memorabilia of Kelon

In October 1984, Pan Ning built China's first double-door refrigerator under very simple conditions, and Shunde Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory was established. In 1986, Pan Ning hired Hong Kong film and television star Wang Mingquan to endorse the Rongsheng refrigerator advertisement, which was the first case of endorsement for a Hong Kong and Taiwan star. At the end of January 1992, Deng Xiaoping inspected Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory.At the end of the year, Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory ranked first in the production and sales of refrigerators in the country. In this position, it has been sitting firmly for 8 years.

In 1994, Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory was restructured into Kelon Group, creating a new Kelon brand. In 1996, Kelon Electric was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising 1.2 billion yuan, becoming the first township enterprise in China to be listed in Hong Kong. In 1997, Kelon achieved an operating income of 3.4 billion yuan and a profit of 660 million yuan, and was honored as "China's Best Managed Company" and "China's Best Investor Relations" by Hong Kong's "Asiamoney" magazine. In October 1998, Kelon and Huabao Group announced their alliance, which was the largest enterprise alliance in the domestic home appliance industry at that time.

In December 1998, without any warning, Pan Ning resigned as president; in April of the following year, he stepped down as chairman. In 1999, his successor Wang Guoduan launched the "Kelong Revolution". In July, Kelon Electric issued A shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, raising funds of 1.06 billion yuan. In June 2000, Wang Guoduan resigned, and Xu Tiefeng, the mayor of Ronggui Town, became the president of Kelon. In April 2001, Kelon Electric announced its annual report with a loss of 678 million yuan. On October 31, 2001, Gu Chujun's Greencool Company announced that it would acquire 20.6% of the equity of Kelon Electric for 560 million yuan (the amount was later reduced to 348 million yuan), becoming the largest shareholder.

In April 2002, Kelon Electric announced its annual report with a loss of 1.555 billion yuan, setting a record among listed Chinese home appliance companies. Since 2002, Gu Chujun implemented the "Gu's New Deal", and reported a profit of 112 million yuan in 2003, reversing the situation of several years of losses in one fell swoop. In May 2002, Gu Chujun announced an investment of 360 million US dollars to build Greencool Technology Industrial Park in Nanchang. In October, Jilin Ji Nuoer Refrigerator Factory was acquired for 300 million yuan. In December, took over two refrigerator production lines of Shanghai Shangling Electric for 10 million yuan.

In May 2003, Yaxing Bus, a listed company, controlled the listed company with 418 million yuan, and announced to invest 400 million U.S. dollars to build a Kelon base with an annual production capacity of 3.6 million refrigerators. In June, it acquired a 20.03% stake in Meiling Electric for 209 million yuan, becoming its largest single shareholder.Gu Chujun claimed to invest 2.49 billion yuan in the construction of Greencool-Meiling Industrial Park in Hefei. In December 2003, Gu Chujun was elected as "2003 China Economic Person of the Year" by CCTV. In August 2004, purchased Shangqiu Bingxiong Refrigeration Equipment Company for 184 million yuan, and promised to invest 1.5 billion yuan to build a refrigeration industrial base, and at the same time acquired the listed company Huayi Compression.On the 9th of that month, Professor Lang Xianping of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology publicly criticized Greencool in a speech at Fudan University, triggering a sensational "Gu Lang Controversy" in the national public opinion circle.

In November 2004, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange entered Kelon's headquarters to conduct centralized inspections of its financial issues. In January 2005, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange publicly condemned Gu Chujun in the name of connected transactions, and Kelon's stock price plummeted. In June, normal business activities were completely suspended. On July 29, 2005, Gu Chujun was arrested by Foshan public security officers. In September, he transferred Kelon shares to Qingdao Hisense Group in the detention center.The equity interests of Meiling and Yaxing have been acquired or transferred one after another.

In August 2006, Kelon Electric announced the annual report of the previous year, announcing a huge loss of 3.693 billion yuan, setting a new record for the loss of listed companies in the mainland, involving 93 lawsuits, and the company's net assets were -1.09 billion yuan. In December 2006, Hisense Kelon held a national marketing business conference with the theme of "Inheritance, Concentration, and Flying Together", with the goal of "becoming the number one refrigerator in the country, the top three in the world, and the top four in the world for air conditioners within 3 to 5 years."