Entrepreneur stresses integrity ahead of profit
Print Edition
Li Lifeng’s ceramic coating business in Minhang has gone from strength to strength since it was tapped to supply the coating for 4,300 Olympic torches at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
His company, Shanghai Excilon New Materials Co, beat 200 contenders to win the contract. Its mission was to supply a coating that would be eco-friendly, with a fine consistency of red color and high heat resistance.
The coatings are also used in frying pans, the interior of Metro stations and aluminum curtain walls.
“People may have no idea of our brand name,” said Li, the company chairman. “They just don’t notice what is used in everyday life. They don’t care who produced the coating for the electrical appliance as long as the appliance works. But manufacturers know our name, and that’s what really counts.”
Starting from a small lab
In the 12 years since the company was founded, Li has turned a small lab developing inorganic ceramic coatings into a listed company that has the biggest market share in its industry in China and the second largest in the world.
“Advanced technology and strong innovation were important factors in our development,” Li said. “But I think another key factor was our emphasis on public health and environmental protection.”
The company uses natural stones and sands as the raw materials of the coating. In this way, coatings can be easily recycled.
Few years back, a foreign company approached Excilon to supply red coatings for the outside surfaces of pots and pans. Li rejected the order, though it was a large one.
Safety concern
“There is no way to create a scarlet appearance without adding cadmium red to the coating, which may taint the metal,” Li explained. “For cookers, there is no international standard for testing outside surfaces, but I have my principles. As long as we are dealing with an object involved in daily cooking, we want to ensure that it’s safe for people to use.”
The problem today, he added, is that too many companies are focused on profit and not on product quality.
Born in small village in east China’s Shandong Province, Li said he grew up determined to “make a difference.” He wanted to be successful in a way that would bring credit to him and his family.
“It was a really small village where I grew up,” he said, recalling the time when his grandparents were forced to kneel in front of a large crowd and be denounced as landlords during the cultural revolution period (1966-1976).
Li said he recalls how insulted and angry he was.
“That made me want to win back my family respect,” he said.
In 1991, Li enrolled in Qingdao University, majoring polymer science. He later earned a doctoral degree from Donghua University in Shanghai.
That degree gave him a ripe choice of jobs to pursue. He considered state-owned companies and international businesses. In the end, he chose to start a private company.
“As a private company, I could do what I wanted and pursue goals in my own way,” he said.
Running own business
At the age of 30, Li rented a laboratory at his old university and joined with two graduating seniors to start Excilon. He took out a mortgage on his small apartment in Shanghai to raise money to invest in the venture. He rode a dilapidated old bicycle that “even thief wouldn’t look at it” to visit potential customers.
The quality of his products resulted in a growing list of customers, including international brands such as Bosch, Siemens and Samsung.
Last year, Li was enlisted in Shanghai’s “leading talent” program which aims to help cultivate leading talent people in sectors including business, science, health and education.
“To run a successful company you need to make money, of course, but you also need to achieve personal satisfaction,” he said. “You need to enjoy the process of striving harder.”
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