Zhou Haijiang worked as a lecturer at Hehai University in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, after he graduated from Shenzhen University with a major in economic management in 1987. Then Zhou decided to work for a township enterprise in his hometown four months later. He worked as a secretary at the factory headquarters, director of the planning department, deputy factory director, executive deputy general manager, and finally president of the Jiangsu Hongdou Industrial Co., Ltd in 2004.

Based in Wuxi City, Hongdou has evolved from a poorly-run knitting mill into a large enterprise group with annual sales worth up to almost 15 billion yuan and 20,000 employees over more than 20 years. Hongdou businesses involve industries such as clothing, motor vehicles, real estate and pharmacy.

Zhou once was away from office for 15 months when he studied at the Central Party School and also abroad. "If the enterprise cannot go well when I am not in my office, it indicates that there is something wrong with the mechanism of the enterprise," he said.

At Hongdou candidates obtain key positions through competition. This has allowed many talented people to stand out and also strengthened the cohesive force of the company. At present, there are more than 2,300 undergraduate employees at Hongdou.

Hongdou has ten subsidiaries and more than 100 factories. A competitive mechanism is in place to create competition between them. This has not only revitalized the management team but also promoted fast development. Workers at production lines also have something to strive for; star employees are chosen in workshops and the managers of workshops are selected from the three-star workers.

"Although I am running a private enterprise, I always remember that I am a member of the Communist Party," Zhou said. He joined the Party when he was a college student. There are 420 Party members at Hongdou and a Party committee was established in June 1997. All managers of the subsidiaries are Party members.

"As a delegate to the 17th CPC National Congress, I will actively reflect the opinions of Party members at the grass-roots level and inside private enterprises and I will take a leading role in the development of the private sector," Zhou said.

(China.org.cn by Yang Xi, October 15, 2007)