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Southern Finance Omnimedia reporter Shi Enze reports from Shenzhen

When it comes to "stuck neck", everyone will think of the injustice suffered by China in the field of chips. But as early as 2002, we faced the dilemma of "stuck neck" in the field of materials.

Wu Xian is a legendary figure in the field of materials. As a female entrepreneur who did not come from a professional background, she was convinced that polymer materials would be an industry that would continue to be needed by human life and would continue to improve, so she used her entire fortune of 20,000 yuan to establish the "Water" brand in 1999.

Three years after entering the industry, Wu Xian discovered that China is highly dependent on large foreign companies in the field of materials. Among them, polyphenylene ether (PPE) is a typical product that is restricted from sale abroad. It is also the only product among the five major engineering materials in China that has not been localized. This incident caused Wu Xian to reflect: key technologies must be in her own hands. Later, she completely localized PPE by introducing it from abroad, digesting and absorbing it domestically, and then innovating it. Today, PPE has become the core material of the domestic new energy industry, and has been widely used in battery systems and lightweight components of new energy vehicles, as well as in the photovoltaic industry.

The same thing also happened in the field of LCP (liquid crystal polymer). In 2014, Water acquired the LCP production line of Samsung Fine Chemicals, laying the groundwork for the subsequent localization and integration of 5G and AI server materials.

As a member of the green technology innovation chain, Water uses material technology innovation as a starting point to provide the best products to downstream companies, thereby extending to scenario innovation and finally opening up the entire industrial chain. Together, we will promote the green transformation and sustainable development of industries such as automobiles and communication networks. At the same time, we have also made our own contributions in the low-altitude economy and other chains, helping China to achieve the "dual carbon" development goals faster.

"Enterprises should not only reflect their value through innovation, but also leverage the entire innovation ecosystem chain with individuals." Wu Xian, chairman of Water Holdings, said in an interview with New Guangdong Business. And this chain-like innovation ecosystem also made Wu Xian start to pay attention to the ESG field.

In Wu Xian's view, the spirit of "hard work and daring to be the first in the world" emphasized by Guangdong Merchants is actually similar to the "corporate social responsibility and global sustainable development" in the modern ESG concept. This also prompted Water to become the first company in the modified materials industry to publish a bilingual ESG report in Chinese and English. You know, only 25% of manufacturing companies in the A-share market can do this.

In addition, Wu Xian believes that Water will continue to adhere to the ESG system in the future and assist in the innovation of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain with higher standards and stricter requirements.

From individual innovation to new quality productivity

New Guangdong Business: What challenges has Water encountered in the past 25 years of development? How did you overcome them?

Wu Xian:In recent years, the industry has put forward the idea of ​​"stuck neck". As early as 2002, Watt encountered the problem of restricted supply. PPE, as a key material in the fields of electronics, automobile industry, machinery industry, and chemical industry, was still a "stuck neck" material in China before 2002. As a downstream enterprise, foreign companies that are close or distant have imposed a sales blockade on us. Some people in China have also organized many technical breakthroughs, but the technical bottleneck is difficult to break through and ended in failure. There are only two choices left for Watt, either sit and wait for death or do it yourself. At that time, we were all very anxious. I thought that as long as there is technology in the world, our country can have it, and as long as others have it, Watt will definitely have it. Subsequently, I flew to various parts of Europe to conduct research, organized foreign expert groups to study countermeasures, and finally chose Europe and made technological breakthroughs and innovations on this basis. The "PPE" technology project was successfully introduced from abroad to China. Since then, Watt has become famous in the field of materials. Today, our new energy vehicles are world-leading, and photovoltaics are also developing very well. This material has played an important role in this.

In 2014, Water bought out 155 patent technologies in the field of LCP materials from Samsung in South Korea, and through 5 years of localization cultivation, LCP materials were completely localized. This laid the seeds for the subsequent development of China's 5G. In 2019, 5G came. In order to ensure the autonomy and control of the supply chain material link and find new materials needed for domestic 5G products, a leading customer knocked on the door of Water's Jiangsu factory. We explored 5G scenarios with customers and used new materials to help the green and localized construction of 5G base stations. At present, both parties have carried out preliminary research on the 6G industry.

In 2021, Water was once again "stuck" by raw materials, but the Water team was very resilient, independently developed and innovated, and found new ways to solve the problem. In terms of materials, we are passionate about it, and it takes us 15 years to polish a product. The rule in the field of materials is to invest a long time, persist, cultivate, and constantly find scenarios to explore with the demand side. I feel that I have the responsibility to build a good company. Our products are needed by the country and the industry, and it is enough for me to feel at ease.

"New Guangdong Businessmen": In the field of materials, what new possibilities will the new quality productivity bring to industrial development?

Wu Xian:New quality productivity is productivity with innovation as its core. As the upstream of the industrial chain, materials are an indispensable part of the innovation and upgrading process. Among the "three new things" going overseas, each one is related to human exploration and progress in materials. For example, carbon fiber in new energy vehicles, lithium in new energy batteries, polysilicon in photovoltaics, etc. In addition, in the field of big health, such as human teeth, bones and joints, etc., they are all closely related to the progress of materials.

For Water, it is necessary to provide the best and most optimal services and products, and build an industrial ecosystem with downstream application scenarios. As a core supplier of a leading drone customer, the materials provided by Water make drones lighter and more environmentally friendly. In the low-altitude economic chain, we are equivalent to a stress point in the chain. Through the material solutions co-created with customers, we help the development of new quality productivity in the entire low-altitude economic chain. This innovation can actually radiate to all low-altitude economic enterprises in the entire Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Enterprises should not only focus on individual innovation, but also serve the entire industry chain with innovative genes, continuous progress and change to build a complete ecological chain. This includes planning and sorting out strategic positioning, as well as how to implement and execute to achieve the overall goal. This thinking also made Water pay attention to the ESG concept.

Water's innovation has never stopped. At present, Water has more than 400 patents. These are our daily services to the industry, ecology, and production, and are the competitiveness formed in the entire ecological transformation and development process.

While expanding and adding, Water is also doing subtraction. We will continue to think: Can our materials match the world's development trends and the better life of mankind? From continuous thinking and practice, we can obtain more precise corporate strategic goals.

When our scenarios and national development require more materials, we must serve the entire industry chain with innovative genes, continuous progress and change, and reflect the value of being needed. Enterprises should not only focus on innovation, but also build a complete ecological chain, including planning and sorting out strategic positioning, and how to implement execution to achieve the overall goal. From mission vision to annual goals, how to cycle and complete, what path to use, how team members work together, etc., are all issues that need to be considered. In this era, we cannot stagnate. If we enter the lying stage, it is easy to be out of the circle and fail to keep up with the pace of being needed.

Vigorously promote ESG construction in the upstream and downstream industries

New Guangdong Business: Water has disclosed ESG reports for two consecutive years. This is actually very rare in the manufacturing industry. Only about 25% of manufacturing companies in the entire A-share market disclose ESG reports. What drives you to do this?

Wu Xian:This is exactly the style of doing things that Watt has learned from years of "stuck neck". Watt has always had the "three highs" requirements in its development, namely high standards, high quality, and high value, which are closely related to the content of ESG. It can also be seen from Watt's corporate mission of "shaping a better life for mankind" that Watt is not only starting from the perspective of corporate interests, but also based on the development of the entire environmental ecology. The ESG concept actually concretizes Watt's style of doing things over the years.

Under the background of high-quality development of the country, enterprises themselves need to understand and cooperate with the positioning of products from the perspective of ESG in all dimensions. ESG is an ecological construction with high value and high standards. Enterprises with high ESG content are particularly recognized by global leading customers. This means that enterprises have practical guarantees in green sustainability, social governance and other aspects, which is a quality standard for testing excellent enterprises.

"New Guangdong Businessman": As a member of Guangdong businessmen, Water, there is a certain relationship between modern ESG concepts and traditional Guangdong business spirit. How do you understand the relationship between the two?

Wu Xian:Thanks to the reform and opening-up policy, Guangdong businessmen have formed the spirit of "hard work and daring to be the first in the world". As a member of Guangdong businessmen, Water has learned from their enterprising belief that we must always maintain a sense of presence in the industry. This sense of presence lies in our constant reflection on what kind of customer groups Water targets. Serving the top customer groups enables Water to keep up with the world's development trends and match the mission of "shaping a better life for mankind".

In the context of the new era, especially in an industrial highland like the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, we Guangdong businessmen must keep pace with the times. While doing our own thing, we must combine the "high requirements and strict standards" in the ESG system to constantly check whether we have improved the gold content of our products and maintained the advanced nature of the industrial chain, so as to leverage the entire industrial chain to better achieve high-quality development and shoulder the mission and responsibility of building a world-class bay area. Therefore, the mission of "shaping a better life for mankind" that Water has implemented for many years coincides with the spirit of "daring to be the first in the world" and the ESG concept of Guangdong businessmen. It is also the fundamental driving force for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to leap into a world-class bay area in the future.