Ren Zhengfei

"Finally revealed was the “Top 10 Rising Figures of IT in 2003” first nationwide poll initiated by famous domestic media including Yahoo China, Sohu, Southern Metropolis Daily, and Beijing News. Ding Lei, Yang Yuanqing, Chen Yongzheng, Zhang Chaoyang, Chen Tianqiao, Ma Huateng, Guo Wei, Ren Zhengfei, Wu Ying, and Wang Yan were among the notable. Netizens’ classic comment on Ren Zhengfei was: He was too renowned in 2003, making it impossible not to rate him."

"In 2000, Ren Zhengfei ranked third on the Forbes list of China’s richest and had an estimated personal wealth of 500 million USD. In 2004, Forbes launched a list of the world’s top 100 largest private companies outside the United States, where his company became the only Chinese firm to make the list, ranking 79th with a revenue of 2.7 billion USD."

"In 1987, at the age of 43, Ren Zhengfei, a retired People’s Liberation Army regiment-level officer, founded Huawei with a registered capital of 20,000 RMB gathered from various sources. At the time, apart from Ren Zhengfei, perhaps no one expected this small company, born in a dilapidated workshop, to soon rewrite the history of telecommunications manufacturing in China and even the world."

"In just over ten years, Huawei transformed from an unknown small company to an electronics giant with a sales revenue of 22 billion RMB and a profit of 3 billion RMB, expanding its assets by 1000 times and gradually becoming a leader among Chinese enterprises."

"Ren Zhengfei has always been low-key. His understated style of doing things may only be comparable to IBM’s former CEO, Lou Gerstner. Ren Zhengfei issued a strict order to Huawei’s senior management: “Unless it’s an important customer or partner, all other activities are not up for discussion. Whoever persuades me will have their position revoked.” He avoids various interviews, meetings, and selections—whether they directly benefit Huawei’s image, government activities, or media events, he rejects them all."

"In 2006, Newsweek wrote that although founder Ren Zhengfei has maintained a low profile, Huawei has stood on the same competitive line with international telecom giants such as Nortel Networks, Lucent Technologies, Alcatel, and Cisco Systems, and it often wins more network operation businesses from among them."

"Ren Zhengfei once said, “Experts, experts, knowing a little makes you an expert, but knowing a lot, what is that called? Why does the term ‘expert’ exist? Because human life is limited and can only understand a little."

"Amid the telecom industry’s “winter”, Ren Zhengfei continued with determination. He firmly believed “spring” would certainly arrive and waited optimistically in the chill. After eight years of development, Huawei’s 3G bore fruit. At the end of 2003, it successfully launched the country’s first WCDMA/GSM dual-mode phone. In February 2004, it introduced China’s first WCDMA phone at the Cannes exhibition in France. On November 15, 2004, Huawei officially launched three mature commercial WCDMA terminals in Hong Kong, becoming one of the few global suppliers offering end-to-end 3G solutions. By early 2005, Huawei had showcased a series of 3G terminals at the Cannes and Germany’s CeBit exhibitions, drawing increasing attention to its 3G offerings."

"Life was already very difficult, but the children were growing up, and clothes were getting shorter every day. Moreover, the children all needed to attend school, which was a significant expense. Each semester, each person needed to pay 2-3 yuan in tuition. Whenever it came time to pay tuition fees, his mother would be worried. Despite this, she insisted on supporting Ren Zhengfei to attend school and study."

"In the book “Built to Last,” when discussing how great companies remain enduring, the author states: “Visionary companies excel not because of detailed strategic planning, but through experimentation, trial and error, or more accurately, by sheer opportunity.”"

"If Haier and Lenovo were the flagships of Chinese enterprises over the past 20 years, then the navigator for the next 20 years is likely to be Huawei. Ren Zhengfei, leading Huawei, has taken it to the world, leaving Huawei’s mark in every corner of the globe."

"Ren Zhengfei often says: “Do business, do business of height.” This is also his consistent pursuit. For this goal, Ren Zhengfei leads his team, traveling far and wide to build influence globally. As Huawei’s corporate leader, his foresight and strategic vision are indeed admirable."

"Ren Zhengfei, the president of China’s largest communication equipment manufacturer, has been invited by national leaders to visit abroad many times, but has never officially accepted any media interviews. Reporters from major media outlets complain that while they have interviewed many famous entrepreneurs, they have never managed to interview him."

"In 1994, Huawei participated in an Asia-Pacific international exhibition and launched its independently developed large-scale exchange without missing the chance, gaining significant influence. That year, the central government proposed the village-to-village communication plan, and rural areas across the country eagerly connected phone systems. Huawei seized this opportunity, tailoring its offerings to rural realities by launching the ETS450D, which could cover an area of 7,000 square kilometers with a single base station, bypassing various obstacles with low cost and guaranteed quality, rapidly becoming a major supplier for the “village-to-village” project."

"In Ren Zhengfei’s dictionary, there is no word for “difficulty.” He rose to challenges, abandoning some short-term benefits for long-term development, thereby achieving greater accomplishments."

"Ren Zhengfei did not disappoint his parents’ hopes. At 19, he was admitted to Chongqing Institute of Posts and Telecommunications. He could finally satisfy his thirst for knowledge. However, perhaps born at the wrong time, or perhaps it was fate’s trick, his peaceful life was disrupted."

"Remember, knowledge is power. If others don’t study, you should. Don’t follow the crowd. In the future, if you’re able, help your younger siblings.”"

"An incident during university left a deep impression on Ren Zhengfei. Once, his mother gave him two shirts. He knew how hard it was to come by and was moved to tears. The year he got into university required him to bring his own bedding, which was a tough challenge for his parents. Later, his mother had an idea. It was graduation time, and she collected the discarded worn-out sheets from graduate students, patched them up, washed them, and prepared them for him to take along, which helped him get through the five years of university life."

"Ren Zhengfei was attending university in another part of the country and was not very familiar with the situation at home. He learned about the circumstances at home from a classmate who heard it from students leaving his father’s school to join the big rallies and later relayed it to him. During the mass rallies, Ren Zhengfei collected many flyers and sent them to his mother. He remembers a speech by Premier Zhou on one of the flyers, stating, “Cadres must seek truth from facts. Do not arbitrarily admit to things that are not true. Things will eventually be clarified.” His mother hid Premier Zhou’s words in food for his father. Later, his father said that this little note saved his life. It was the strength from these words that stopped him from committing suicide. His mother later said he endured for the sake of the family’s seven children. If he died, he would be considered a “sinner against the people.” In such a harsh environment of bloodline theory and implicating children, how would the children survive their whole lives carrying this heavy political burden? For the innocent children, the father endured all sorts of torture and ultimately did not choose suicide."

"Ren Zhengfei later recalled this painful piece of history, saying, “I wore my father’s shoes then without considering that he was doing hard labor. In the mud and water, cold and damp, he needed shoes even more. Looking back, I feel I was too selfish.”"

"The Ren family practiced strict rationing at every meal to ensure everyone could survive. Without this, perhaps one or two children would not have survived."

"This experience of hunger and hardship instilled in Ren Zhengfei a good habit of being frugal and thrifty, freeing him from extravagance and ostentation, and fostering a simple, unadorned mindset."

"In the three months leading up to the college entrance exam, his mother often secretly gave him a small corn cake in the morning. It was precisely because of this that he could study with peace of mind and get into university. Ren Zhengfei later said with emotion, “If not for that, I might not have joined a company like Huawei. There would have been one more pig farmer in society or one more skilled craftsman on the street. This little corn cake was scrounged from the mouths of my parents and siblings. I have no way to repay them.”"

"As Ren Zhengfei was approaching his college entrance exams, sometimes at home when reviewing coursework, he was so hungry he couldn’t bear it and would mix rice bran with vegetables to cook and eat. His father caught him doing this a few times, which pained them. At that time, the family was too poor to even own a lockable cabinet. Food was stored in earthenware jars, yet he never randomly grabbed a handful, knowing that doing so would leave his younger siblings hungry."

"During this time, my father suffered greatly under cruel treatment. My younger siblings, being small and at home, experienced first-hand various humiliations and blows. They often crouched by the cafeteria window, watching in terror as my father was criticized, trembling all over. My father, wearing a tall hat, stood on a high platform, his face smeared black, hands tied behind, while being punched and kicked, sometimes knocked to the ground. Sometimes my father, along with hundreds of “capitalist roaders,” was paraded on trucks with black placards."

"At that time, the national economy was struggling, and there was a severe food shortage. The little stored food they had could hardly fill the whole family’s bellies. His family at that time shared a mattress among 2-3 people, with straw stuffed under worn-out sheets. The country then implemented strict rationing. Daily necessities were distributed with coupons, with as little as 0.5 meters of fabric coupons per person per year, which was not enough for seven siblings! Until he graduated from high school, Ren Zhengfei never wore a shirt; even in the hot summer, he wore a thick coat."