Chapter 8 Figures in corporate history: Chuanren Chunxian

On August 9, 2004, Chen Chunxian passed away, two days before his 70th birthday.Even among the people in Zhongguancun, few still remember his name. "Forgetting" is one of the most important features of this Chinese corporate history. In October 1980, Chen Chunxian, the top nuclear fusion expert in China and a 46-year-old researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, returned from an inspection tour in the United States. This was his third visit to the United States in two years, and these trips left the deepest impression on him. What matters is not the academic progress of American counterparts, but the diffusion ability of that country in technology industrialization.He will go to two places every time, one is Silicon Valley in the west, and the other is "Route 128" in Boston in the east.Walking in the narrow strip with two low houses and lush green bushes, he suddenly felt a passion that he had never felt before.Chen Chunxian was the most promising new-generation scientist in China at that time. In 1978, the Chinese Academy of Sciences hired the first batch of professor-level researchers after the reform and opening up. There were only 10 people in total. Together in the list.But this trip to Silicon Valley has completely changed his life.

After returning to China, he wrote a report to his superiors and pointed out that China should build its own "Silicon Valley". He wrote, "The reason for the rapid development of the United States is that technology is transformed into products very quickly. Scientists and engineers have a strong entrepreneurial spirit, always Eager to turn his own inventions, know-how and knowledge into products, borrow money by himself, and set up a joint venture factory." In his plan, he has even delineated the location of "China's Silicon Valley", which is Zhongguancun, where he works.

Zhongguancun is really the name of a small village in the north of Beijing. Before 1949, it was a small natural village with 70 households and 276 people. The surrounding cemeteries accounted for more than 30% of the land. In 1952, the Chinese Academy of Sciences was located here, and the next year, Yenching University and Peking University merged to form a teaching and research institute in the north of this small village.In the future, several key research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a large area of ​​staff dormitories were successively built in the Zhongguancun area, becoming an area with a high concentration of scientific researchers.Chen Chunxian said in the report, "We have worked in Zhongguancun for more than 20 years. The density of talents here is by no means lower than that of San Francisco and Boston, and the quality is not bad. I always feel that there is a lot of potential that has not been tapped."

It would be fine if it was just writing reports and giving speeches like this, but Chen Chunxian wanted to really put himself into it as a test case.In the two months after returning to China, he fanatically appealed everywhere, wrote reports and made suggestions to various departments. Finally, the Beijing Association for Science and Technology recognized his idea, agreed to lend him 200 yuan, and issued a certificate to allow him to work in Beijing. Open an account with the bank. On December 23, inspired by the legend of Silicon Valley in the United States, Chen Chunxian set up the first private technology entity in China: "Beijing Plasma Society Advanced Technology Development Service Department" in a corner of a warehouse in Zhongguancun.Together with Chen Chunxian, 14 researchers from the Institute of Physics, Institute of Electronics, and Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences jumped into the business world.In the future, Zhongguancun will become the most important distribution center for scientific research products in China, and Chen Chunxian is undoubtedly the first pioneer. The winter in Beijing in 1980 was very cold, and there were six heavy snowfalls in December. According to reports, the amount of snowfall in this winter was the largest in the past two decades.Chen Chunxian rode a bicycle on snow every day to run business. His service department finally received the first order two months after opening. The director of a small street factory in Haidian District asked Chen Chunxian, a nuclear fusion scientist who came to sell the business: "Can you help us solve the power problem?" Chen Chun was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Of course, how much can you give?"

It will take three to four years for Zhongguancun to really become lively.When Chen Chun first set up the service department, it caused a great shock inside and outside the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Almost everyone thought that he was not doing his job properly.At this time, Chen Chunxian, who was born in Bashu, showed the unique stubbornness of Sichuan people. He ran around his business like crazy. This scientist who studies the difficult nuclear fusion technology had to do "rice grain planning" for the survival of 15 people. .In the first year of his business, his service department had an income of more than 20,000 yuan, which was not a small amount at the time. Therefore, Chen Chunxian gave each of them a monthly allowance of 15 yuan. There was an uproar in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the person who sued said angrily that Chen Chun had practiced crooked ways, and he actually paid himself two grades of salary.By 1983, Chen Chunxian had signed 27 contracts, established technical cooperation relations with 4 small collectively-owned factories in Haidian District, and helped Haidian District to establish Haidian New Technology Experimental Factory and 3 technical service organizations.The operating principles set by Chen Chunxian for the service department later became the common law for the establishment of private high-tech companies in China, that is: scientific and technological personnel go out of research institutes, follow the laws of scientific and technological transformation, the laws of market economy, do not need state funding, and do not occupy state establishments , Self-raised funds, self-responsibility for profits and losses, independent management, independent decision-making according to law.Behind him being suspected, insulted and ridiculed, gradually, sporadic small technology companies appeared in the Zhongguancun area.Under the media reports, Chen Chunxian's practice attracted the attention of the upper echelon. Hu Qili and Fang Yi, who were in charge of economic work at the time, gave instructions and praised him greatly.

Touched by these measures, Haidian District has relaxed the policy of setting up companies in Zhongguancun. In 1984, Stone, Xintong, Kehai and later the very famous Lenovo were born one after another, and the "Zhongguancun Electronic Street" took shape. By 1992, there were 5,180 private technology companies here. Chen Chunxian's research direction is advanced nuclear fusion. He participated in the establishment of China's first nuclear fusion base and the first domestic tokamak device at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.But in Zhongguancun, his majors are almost useless.After 1980, Chen Chunxian basically gave up academic research.He reorganized the service department into Huaxia Silicon Valley Company, and he would never tire of negotiating whenever there was a business coming. The biggest business his company did was to help an American company do data entry. For this purpose, he hired more than 100 college students. Earn 0.4 yuan for 1,000 characters. If it goes well, you can earn 300,000 US dollars a year, but this business was also aborted halfway.

Chen Chunxian is obviously not a good manager. Under his initiative, Zhongguancun has gradually expanded in size, but his company has always been sluggish, and it is not in the same breath as Lenovo, Founder, Tongfang and other rising stars.For more than ten years, he has been involved in economic disputes many times, and was even kidnapped twice.He said with emotion: "It doesn't matter whether you are active in thinking or realize the potential value-added areas, it does not mean that you can run a good company. On the contrary, most entrepreneurs who run a good company are engaged in marketing and finance, and have strong management skills. people, not real scientists. I’m not a successful entrepreneur, and there’s no getting around that.”

Chen Chunxian became a "historical figure" in his later years, and no one cares about him on weekdays. On certain anniversaries, the media came to interview him.Many people thought that if he had been working in the laboratory, he would have become a great scientist.And he himself said something like this: "I think each generation can only do what it thinks is the most important thing at that time. People always have to do something when they live. If they do this, they may have to give up that one. I Never regret doing things, even if you do something stupid, because time always moves forward.”

Chen Chunxian is a stubborn native of Chengdu, Sichuan.He deserves to be long remembered.There is a dedicated Chen Chunxian Memorial website (www.chenchunxian.com) on the Internet.Except for a few insiders, it was a site that was almost completely forgotten.