Lu Tonghua, Chairman of Qiannianzhou Group, is featured on the cover of the 20th anniversary special edition of Zhejiang Business Magazine
2024-08-09
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In the tide of the times when the economy is surging forward, "Zhejiang Merchants" magazine has witnessed generations of new leaders of Zhejiang merchants empowering corporate innovation, not being confused by the moment or an event, anchoring the goal of high-quality development; insight into cutting-edge technology, not changing the "Four Thousand Spirits", interpreting the wisdom and responsibility of the new generation of Zhejiang merchants. They are explorers of industrial change and practitioners of new quality productivity. On the long road of entrepreneurship, how do they move towards "newness"?
At the main report meeting of the 21st Zhejiang Merchants (Investment and Financing) Cooperation Week in 2024, the "2024 New Leaders of Zhejiang Merchants" was officially released under the guidance of the Zhejiang Merchants Development Research Institute (Zhejiang Merchants Think Tank) and organized by Zhejiang Merchants Magazine. Lu Tonghua, chairman of Qiannianzhou Group, won this honor for being a pioneer in green home furnishing and a practitioner of dual carbon goals.
Figure Lu Tonghua (middle of the second row)
Here is the full article from the magazine:
Lu Tonghua: Rowing the boat towards the deep waters of green industry ecology
25 years ago, a small boat carrying the dream of a young entrepreneur sailed out from the shore of Qiandao Lake, passed Qiantang River, and arrived in Hangzhou; now, this small boat has become a large ship named "Qiannianzhou", carrying the original intention of "making a good board for the people", and has become a brand symbol of healthy and environmentally friendly home building materials in China. The helmsman standing on the deck and looking into the distance is Lu Tonghua, chairman of Qiannianzhou New Materials Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qiannianzhou").
Light boat planks, set sail
In 1999, Lu Tonghua, a 37-year-old Qiandao Lake youth who was engaged in the board trade, decided to set up a board factory in Hangzhou, named "Huahai Wood Industry" (the predecessor of Qiannianzhou Group), and set environmental protection and quality standards for the boards he produced. "The factory mainly produced rotary cut veneers at that time. At the beginning, we could make 2 yuan per board, but soon, after a few months, the profit became thinner and thinner, and we could only make 1 yuan, 50 cents, or even 20 cents or 10 cents per board." For Lu Tonghua, who invested all his assets in the factory at that time, the backlog of veneers led to a lack of capital turnover, which meant that the company was facing a life-and-death juncture.
"I have vaguely realized that the era of veneer is over." After market research, Lu Tonghua decided to dispose of the old peeling equipment and replace it with a brand new press to produce plywood and woodworking boards. After improving the process, the fir core woodworking boards they produced have a natural fragrance and are not easy to mold or be eaten by insects. They are very popular among woodworkers, home improvement companies and consumers. As soon as they were released, they became well-known in Hangzhou. Lu Tonghua said that the launch of fir core woodworking boards was a key battle for the newly established Huahai Wood Industry to survive and gain a foothold in Hangzhou.
After this battle, Lu Tonghua also realized the importance of brand. On the sixth day of the first lunar month in 2000, the first thing Huahai Wood Industry did when it started working was to collect brand names from all employees. Within a few days, many plans drawn up by everyone's brainstorming were placed on Lu Tonghua's desk. Among them, the three words "Millennium Boat" instantly caught his heart. Coming from Qiandao Lake, he set sail in Liangzhu, a place with a history of 5,000 years, in the year of the millennium, driving a light boat made of wooden boards.
"To run a business, you must stay at the forefront of the market through continuous innovation in order to obtain rich returns from the market." In Lu Tonghua's view, environmental protection is a key word. In 2006, he applied the concepts he brought back from a study tour in the United States to product research and development, and launched paint-free boards, becoming the "first person to try" among domestic peers. Soon, paint-free boards set off a sales boom in the industry, and covered the national market two or three years later. Lu Tonghua was pleasantly surprised to find that the new products he launched not only led to industry innovation and improvement, but also made the influence of the "Qiannianzhou" brand spread across the country and led the development of the industry.
From then on, "innovation" has become a compulsory course for Lu Tonghua and Qiannian Zhou.
"Green" and "Dual Carbon" stimulate new momentum for the industry
Under the background of "dual carbon", the transformation and upgrading of China's construction industry is moving towards a green and low-carbon development path. This is not only an inevitable choice of the times, but also a necessary way for the industry to innovate itself. In recent years, Lu Tonghua has led Qiannianzhou to study a new man-made board material - bamboo. In his view, this is a win-win situation for society, bamboo farmers and enterprises.
Faced with the two major challenges of bamboo processing and terminal application, Qiannianzhou has actively devoted itself to the exploration of efficient bamboo utilization technology, promoted the vigorous development of green building materials and low-energy buildings, and formed a bamboo industry chain model of "taking from nature, using it in nature, and returning to nature". It not only realizes the maximum utilization of bamboo resources, but also injects new vitality into rural revitalization and common prosperity.
Under the leadership of Lu Tonghua, Qiannianzhou has carried out in-depth cooperation with academicians, universities, and research institutions to establish academician workstations and develop new technologies and equipment in the field of bamboo. In 2023, Qiannianzhou's first large-format bamboo oriented strand board was successfully trial-produced. At present, the group's bamboo components and related equipment have been authorized with 18 invention patents and 24 utility model and appearance patents, and it is expected that the bamboo processing utilization rate can be increased to more than 90%. "The bamboo components processed by advanced technology have overcome the defects and dimensional variability of bamboo itself. Under the same specifications, the strength and load-bearing capacity are better than wooden components, and the weight is only 1/7 to 1/8 of that of steel." Lu Tonghua said with relief.
In solving terminal application problems, Qiannianzhou explores the application of bamboo materials in the field of prefabricated buildings, using bamboo to make load-bearing components such as beams, columns, and cladding panels, as well as decorative materials such as wall panels, stair panels, and floors, truly achieving "replacing plastic with bamboo" and "making bamboo a building material". In 2021, Qiannianzhou's wooden structure prefabricated building brand, Zhimu Yishu, was born. On the road of exploring prefabricated buildings, Qiannianzhou's oars have rowed into the deep waters of building a green industrial ecology. Lu Tonghua believes that this not only carries rich industrial attributes and cultural genes, but is also a vivid manifestation of corporate innovation to solve social problems and demonstrate social value.
Lu Tonghua is as gentle as jade. He treats people calmly and calmly, and is neither arrogant nor pretentious. However, he has a strength bursting out from the bottom of his heart. He is a man who pursues his dreams. More than 30 years of hard work have left him with smile lines and silver hair, but it has not slowed him down. He has always led the company to sail hard and ride the wind and waves. (Xianning News Network)
