In May 1985, Liberation Daily first proposed the "Wenzhou Model" and refined the "Four Thousand Spirits" of "traveling thousands of mountains and rivers, speaking thousands of words, thinking of thousands of ways, and enduring thousands of hardships". To this day, this spirit has spread throughout China, becoming an eternal beacon for private enterprises to forge ahead in the tide of reform and opening up.

From a township fiberglass factory in Tongxiang, Zhejiang, to a multinational industrial group spanning the globe, from a single fiberglass filament to the "hidden champion" of new energy materials - ZhenShi Holding Group has practiced the "Four Thousand Spirits" for forty years, with the courage to "travel thousands of mountains and rivers", the persistence to "speak thousands of words", the wisdom to "think of thousands of ways", and the resilience to "endure thousands of hardships", forging a benchmark sample for private enterprises to forge ahead in the tide of the times.

Traveling thousands of mountains and rivers: From Shimen to the world

Forty years ago, in 1985, it was the second year that Zhang Yuqiang, the founder of ZhenShi, took full charge of the work. He led the first relocation and technological transformation (platinum furnace process), which was a great success and greatly improved product competitiveness. Under his leadership, ZhenShi's entrepreneurial team crammed onto green trains, invited experts, and sought out customers, step by step selling their products to the world.

In 1989, ZhenShi pioneered shareholding system reform with the spirit of "dare to be the first under heaven". In 1993, it was the first to enter the Tongxiang Economic Development Zone, building China's first 8,000-ton pool kiln drawing production line ("318 Project"), breaking the technological monopoly of Europe and America, and laying the foundation for the national fiberglass industry.

If the journey from Shimen to Tongxiang was a "dare to be the first" transformation and upgrading, then the journey from Tongxiang to the world is an industrial expedition that "connects the globe". This glass fiber, as thin as a hair, has become an industrial golden thread connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe in the hands of ZhenShi. Since 2014, in response to international trade barriers, ZhenShi has established production bases in Egypt, Turkey, and Spain, forming a production network covering Asia, Africa, and Europe. "We have achieved success with our outward-oriented model!" said a relevant person in charge of ZhenShi.

From stainless steel to nickel resources, ZhenShi's journey in Indonesia can be described as a modern version of "building a city on a deserted island". In 2010, they were greeted by a primitive environment without electricity, water, communication, or roads. But the people of ZhenShi used bulldozers to flatten the red earth and thorns, used containers to build temporary command posts, and tore open a piece of industrial blue sea in the tropical rainforest. The Yash 300,000-ton nickel-iron project recouped its investment in just 18 months, setting an efficiency benchmark for Chinese companies in the Indonesian nickel-iron field; the Shuoshi 1.05 million-ton nickel-iron project fought for more than 900 days and nights to achieve full production and capacity, creating a benchmark for international production capacity cooperation.

Speaking thousands of words: Mastering industry discourse in the market

"We must actively and effectively utilize the market, and we must actively and proactively play our own role. For products that our competitors don't have, we must be the only ones; for products that our competitors have, we must be the first!" In the view of Chairman Zhang Yuqiang, market development requires continuous innovation and change, using a differentiation strategy to open up new blue oceans. ZhenShi's "chasing the wind" story is just like that.

"We are the first Chinese company to export wind power materials overseas!" In November 2004, when China's wind power industry was booming, ZhenShi, in its early days of "chasing the wind", faced an almost impossible task from international wind power giants: there were no ready-made equipment or mature processes in China. How could it produce the first batch of wind power fabrics to the highest industry standards? But the market opportunity was not to be missed. ZhenShi systematically tackled equipment, processes, and testing systems, iterating through nearly 100 formulas over 7 months. The "fatigue-resistant fabric armor" woven from fiberglass filaments passed customer certification and was successfully exported in June 2005, joining the global supply chain.

"Attending exhibitions, visiting customers, and promoting new products, traveling nearly 300 days a year, we often stay in customers' workshops." Behind the growth from a single fiberglass filament to a world-class wind power supplier is ZhenShi's persistence in refining "customer needs" into "industry standards" through service. ZhenShi is close to the "wind power front line", building a highly efficient full-process service system and creating a service mechanism of "response to demand, solution to problems". When European customers were anxious due to supply chain disruptions, ZhenShi completed the construction of its Spanish production base in 12 months, and the first batch of goods has been shipped, creating a wind power supply chain of "European demand, European manufacturing". With one-third of the global wind power base materials market, ZhenShi is accelerating its run in the wind power track and continuing to lead!

Thinking of thousands of ways: Standing tall in the process of climbing mountains

Different industries are like different mountains. ZhenShi has reached the summit by climbing mountains, enabling the simultaneous development of the tertiary and secondary industries, and creating ten major industrial sectors. Its diversified journey is a vivid interpretation of the "thinking of thousands of ways" in the "Four Thousand Spirits". From the "single-point breakthrough" of fiberglass manufacturing to the "industrial synergy" of ten major industries, ZhenShi has used industrial chain thinking to overcome industry barriers, interpreting the new paradigm of "headquarters economy" in its "standing tall" achievements.

In 2009, ZhenShi built Tongxiang's first five-star hotel in 18 months - the 169-meter ZhenShi Grand Hotel, setting a record for the fastest construction speed of high-end hotels in China. In 2015, ZhenShi was the first to enter the Fenghuang Lake headquarters base, announcing its determination to "permanently establish its global headquarters in Tongxiang" with its 182-meter headquarters building. In 2025, it will reshape the "Phoenix Perching on the Tung Tree" landmark with the 190-meter ZhenShi Plaza, integrating a five-star hotel, international exhibitions, and smart business, filling the gap in Tongxiang's high-end service industry. ZhenShi continues to refresh the city's skyline, driving the aggregation of more than ten leading companies' headquarters, forming the most densely populated area of leading companies in specific industries in Jiaxing.

Behind the "speed myth" is ZhenShi's deep cultivation of the industrial chain. On the south side of the Tongxiang Economic Development Zone (Gaoqiao Street), a "super factory" with the largest global fiberglass usage has sprung up in one year. "Product orders and delivery volumes continue to climb, with orders scheduled until the end of this year." A relevant person in charge of the New Materials Park said that the park's new energy wind power, photovoltaic, and other production lines are operating at full capacity, with an increase of more than 50% compared to the beginning of the year. It is using intelligent technologies such as manufacturing operation management systems and AGV vehicles to find ways to accelerate towards the goal of achieving tens of billions of yuan in output value and millions of tons of fiberglass applications.

Thousands of ways to refine special steel. When ZhenShi took over the near-bankrupt Jiaxing Steel Plant in 2007, the traditional steel company faced a life-or-death question - how to stand out in the ordinary carbon steel market? ZhenShi chose a "path of refinement": cutting off low-end ordinary carbon steel production capacity and betting on the "high, refined, special, and rare" special stainless steel track, naming the company "Oriental Special Steel". The pain of transformation has become the driving force for innovation. Oriental Special Steel's heat-resistant steel has opened up new avenues for concentrated solar power, nuclear power steel is used in batches in several national nuclear power projects, and ship plate steel is used in batches in LNG carriers. Today, with the construction of Oriental Special Steel's green high-end nickel-chromium new material intelligent manufacturing project, this climbing journey continues.

Enduring thousands of hardships: Transformation and upgrading is a must-answer question

Under the spotlight of the Zhenshi Entrepreneurship Museum, a rusty wire drawing machine silently speaks of the philosophy of 'hardship'. In the cold winter of 1972, 17-year-old Zhang Yuqiang carried this 100-plus kilogram "iron lump" back from Jiujiang, squeezing onto a green train, standing for 20 hours without a drop of water, shouldering the starting point of China's fiberglass industry on his young shoulders. More than forty years later, this machine has become Zhenshi's "spiritual totem", and the words "enduring hardship" have been engraved into the company's innovative genes—holding more than 400 patents and cultivating 5 national high-tech enterprises, Zhenshi uses the "hardship of scientific research" to solve the "difficulties of transformation".

At Zhenshi's new material industrial park, a photovoltaic frame production line with completely independent intellectual property rights is running at high speed. The black frames coming off the production line are a testament to the Zhenshi people's "enduring hardship". Zhenshi spent 3 years, verifying hundreds of formulas, creatively developing various technical processes, and successfully developed high-strength, low-carbon, weather-resistant composite frames. The production line has 100% independent intellectual property rights, leading the industry in achieving commercial application and large-scale production. Zhenshi's next trillion-level market is accelerating its development.

"Unlimited scenery lies beyond the dangerous peaks." The hardship of innovation is the hardship of climbing. In the Huazhi Research Institute, engineers often make the laboratory their home, using "ascetic" research and development to achieve "from 0 to 1" original innovation. This is the key for Zhenshi to break through "involution" competition. In the five years since its establishment, Huazhi has transformed "hardship" into the driving force for technological breakthroughs, and currently owns 14 invention patents, propelling Zhenshi towards a new ocean.

Through forty years of wind and rain, Zhenshi has used the "Four Thousand Spirit" to forge a path from following to leading. Zhenshi is writing a glorious chapter of the private economy with a more open mind, more hard-core innovation, and more tenacious responsibility!