Lu Hongxiang: Jumore Brings New Vitality to China’s Manufacturing Industry

International Cooperation along the Belt and Road

Lu Hongxiang speaks at the China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum.

During his visits to Central Asia and Southeast Asia in September and October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that China and the countries in these regions join hands to build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century, a plan that has polarized the international community’s attention.

Building the Silk Road Economic Belt calls for economic integration in Southeast and Northeast Asia, which will eventually merge with Europe to create Eurasian economic integration. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road connects Europe, Asia and Africa via sea routes. The land-sea loop is expected to provide a new channel for countries along the routes to enhance their exchanges and development.  

In the second half of 2015, Lu met with Indonesia’s former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Singaporean Ambassador to China Stanley Loh Ka Leung. During the Korea-Japan-China Business Summit and the meeting between the leaders of China and Central and Eastern European countries, Lu forged cooperative agreements with enterprises in countries such as Germany, Russia, Argentina and Kazakhstan through the platform Jumore provided.

Lu believes that countries along the Belt and Road, most of which are developing nations, play a significant role in the export and sale of products manufactured in China. Jumore is exerting considerable effort to open a new, transnational sales channel for China’s manufacturers.

The advancement of the Chinese manufacturing industry – which is now undergoing transformation and upgrades – also depends on China’s progress. In turn, the growth of China’s manufacturing sector will mean greater success for Jumore, and promote its business philosophy of harmonious coexistence.  

Six Key Functional Centers

Transactions via maisulang.com, a sub-platform of Jumore for plastic products, exceeded RMB 100 million just eight days after its inauguration. Its rapid development, which has drawn the public’s attention, can be attributed to Lu’s management philosophy. In his view, Jumore’s achievements rest on its clients. The clients gain profits through its services, and Jumore merely takes a “free ride,” he said.

“Harmonious coexistence” in Taoism holds that human beings and everything around them have the same origin, composition and end. Each life plays an important role in the healthy functioning of nature. Taoists believe, therefore, that helping others is actually helping oneself. To help solve the major problems in China’s manufacturing sector and stimulate the industry’s growth, Jumore has established six centers.

The financial center provides financial support for raw materials. The centers for manufacturing industry, big data analysis and market research provide domestic companies with intellectual support and services for industrial transformation and upgrades, which promote China-made products in the global market. The logistics center integrates resources to assist companies in optimizing efficiency and lowering logistical costs. The hedging center helps Chinese manufacturers lock in reasonable prices for raw materials in the global market to avoid uncertainties in international procurement.                 

The core of the six centers, Lu believes, lies in the global manufacturing industry’s integration. And Jumore, by innovatively forging a platform, brings together outstanding manufacturers worldwide to form an extensive supply network. He envisions a fusion of key technologies of Germany’s Industry 4.0, Japanese lean management, the most convenient logistics channels, and the world’s best raw materials. Lu and his team have learnt from their decades on the job that a closed-loop robust business is crucial to the steady advance of Jumore and its business model.

Pass Down Traditional Culture and Fulfill Social Responsibilities

Quite a few entrepreneurs from China benefit from traditional Chinese culture and carry on the mission to promote it. Xinyuanxing Academy, under the Jumore company, was established by Lu to spread traditional Chinese culture. Lu has mastered the art of applying traditional cultural factors to business to demonstrate the vitality and charisma of time-honored practices. He also donates books about traditional culture – valued at millions of yuan – to local governments and education departments in each place Jumore conducts business. Lu pays equal attention to carrying out educational projects to popularize traditional culture. On top of that, the Xinyuanxing Academy often gives aid to districts and schools that value traditional culture.

“We particularly advocate the unity of knowledge and practice, as current society is faced with the problem of ‘easy to say, hard to do,’” Lu said. As an entrepreneur who has been educated in the philosophies of traditional Chinese culture, he feels obliged to fulfill his company’s social responsibilities and bring traditional Chinese culture to a wider audience. He believes in adopting time-honored philosophies in business to better promote China’s manufacturing industry, as well as in his personal life, to maintain inner peace while facing the challenges of a turbulent global market.