Ding Yibo, President of Qingtian Technology, delivered a New Year's address: Focus on business operations and strive for happiness!
Focus on business, strive for happiness.
President Ding Yibo
Time flies, days and months pass by. Years slip away quietly amidst the complexities of daily life, and seasons of booming business unfold before our eyes. Like an infant in swaddling clothes, Sunny Day has grown from its very first cry to its current robust state. Three years after its founding, the blueprint is gradually becoming a reality, and the future has never been clearer. Those thrilling entrepreneurial moments will be recorded in Sunny Day's history, giving all Sunny Day employees new strength to move forward with unwavering determination.
In just three years, Qingtian has created a miracle in the industry's development.
On January 1, 2015, in a room on the 5th floor of the Innovation Building, Qingtian Technology embarked on its inspiring entrepreneurial journey. Over the past three years, we have overturned the conventional wisdom of the photovoltaic industry, pioneered a new development model for China's distributed photovoltaic market, and unleashed a market whirlwind in photovoltaic development. Stimulated by multiple favorable factors, including national policies, technological revolutions, and innovative business models, Qingtian Technology has grown from nothing to something, from small to large, writing a new chapter in the exceptionally vibrant market of Zhejiang and Guangdong.
Over the past three years, Qingtian Technology has achieved sales exceeding 700 million RMB in residential photovoltaic (PV) applications, maintaining a steady growth rate of over 60% annually. The number of PV power plants connected to the grid has reached 16,000, delivering nearly 100 million kWh of clean electricity to society. The company has signed contracts for 180MW of projects, with over 80MW connected to the grid. The total number of employees exceeds 3,000, including a sales team of 2,200 and nearly 200 sales managers, forming a professional workforce adapted to current market development. The group's subsidiary, Qingri Power, has established three specialized teams: business development, engineering design and construction, and investment and financing delivery. The organizational structure has been effectively expanded, with nearly 40 branches established in Zhejiang and Guangdong, further extending sales reach into the market. A complete sales management system, order process management system, engineering management system, back-office support system, and financial management system adapted to the unique characteristics of China's photovoltaic industry has been established, enabling standardized replication of the organization and business. A dedicated IT process department has been established in Shenzhen, developing a series of management processes for residential, commercial, and power plant monitoring, greatly contributing to business development. In 2017, Zhejiang Baowo Solar Energy and Qingneng Power were established to build up reserves for future new business development.
The spirit cultivated during the entrepreneurial journey is especially valuable.
After three years of honing our skills, Sunny Day has grown into a large ship that will not sink, but will only sail far. There are two most dazzling lights in the world: the sun and the way we move forward. Looking back on the past three years of entrepreneurial journey, making money is secondary; what is more important is the scenery we have gained along the way and the Sunny Day power that we have accumulated and can pass on.
A desperate situation can lead to a breakthrough, a force that can transform a situation from zero to one.
There's no such thing as a sudden, unexpected emergence in this world; everything is the inevitable result of careful preparation. Since its inception, Qingtian Technology has undergone five entrepreneurial ventures. It started from scratch, founding Zhejiang Qingtian in a 50-square-meter office in the Innovation Building. It established Qingri Power in a dark, damp warehouse on Jidao Street. It grew wildly in the treacherous, uncharted market of Guangdong, giving rise to Guangdong Qingtian. Qingneng and Borgward grew from the shoulders of Qingri Power and Zhejiang Qingtian. Each organization's growth is a new challenge. If the birth of Zhejiang Qingtian relied on vision, then the birth of Qingri was courage; the growth of Guangdong relied on hard work; the sudden emergence of Borgward was the result of accumulation; and the gestation of Qingneng was more about foresight. It is precisely this vision, courage, hard work, accumulation, and foresight of the Qingtian people that has converged to form the breakthrough force that propelled us from 0 to 1. Born from within, growing upwards.
As long as we don't lose our way of thinking, there's always more innovative power than problems.
Any great success is not a product of imitation, but rather a disruptive innovation from scratch. Since its inception, Qingtian has innovated all the successful logics of the photovoltaic industry through cross-industry cooperation. It pioneered a sales model that financializes and integrates photovoltaics into daily life; established an engineering model encompassing delivery and installation; experimented with a branch expansion model based on profit-sharing and performance-based systems; designed a fully information-based power plant development model from initial site survey to grid connection and operation; and researched process systems for large-scale industrial and commercial development, design, and operation. The creation of each model and the design of each process embody Qingtian's innovative capabilities—both aspiring to great heights and grounded in reality. It is precisely this capability that has ensured Qingtian's outstanding potential and averted the crisis of its potential elimination.
Only by giving it your all can you truly enjoy yourself; the power of struggle in the face of difficulties.
Time will never let down those who give their all. Only by giving it your all can you truly enjoy the journey. Along the way, we've encountered numerous obstacles on the entrepreneurial path. In the early days, the Zhejiang and Guangdong markets were still in their infancy, and the lack of trust from the government, the market, and partners in this uncharted territory was a major challenge. Early on, village committees and street offices refused to stamp documents. In the mid-stage, we faced poaching from competitors and external oversight. At the beginning, Qingtian was technically clueless and lacked funds. Like a newborn calf, we overcame every obstacle. We witnessed countless Qingtian partners working tirelessly from dawn till dusk in the rural areas of Zhejiang and Guangdong; we saw countless grassroots management cadres working diligently on the front lines; we saw countless engineers enduring the scorching heat and freezing cold, standing tall on all sorts of rooftops. We carved out a path in the uncharted Guangdong market, achieved rebirth in the demanding Quzhou market, reaped excellent results in the large-scale industrial and commercial sectors we had never worked in before, and held our ground in the fiercely competitive Jiaxing, Jiande, and Jinhua markets. It is this fighting spirit and relentless courage emanating from all Qingtian employees that has fueled our progress.
Let's continue to strive for happiness in the next three years.
Looking back on our journey, we are filled with gratitude—gratitude for this great era, gratitude for this great industry, and even more gratitude for the selfless dedication and hard work of everyone at Qingtian. As President Xi Jinping said, "Happiness comes from hard work."
In 2018, we strived to create a company with reasonable profits. The purpose of running a company is to make money, and we must persist in shifting from a business-oriented to a profit-oriented approach. We aim to make every company profitable. Development is the source of solutions; we will use development to resolve existing contradictions within the company. The greatest failure is not falling down, but never daring to run forward. In 2018, we will run towards the sun.
In 2018, we strived to create a company where employees feel happy. We are responsible for everyone who boards the Sunny Day ship and continues to work hard. The company still faces enormous challenges, and the business is undergoing a complete integration. We must not only advocate the spirit of hard work and dedication among our employees, but also inspire the courage to learn proactively and innovate. We must not only build platforms for learning from the industry and drawing inspiration from best practices, but also meet the needs of our employees for growth and the joy of rewarding their efforts. May our young selves venture forth without hesitation and return safely.
In 2018, we strived to create a more socially responsible company. Opportunities and dreams fueled our growth. We have always cherished a dream: to enable more people to use clean energy and share the benefits of solar power, and to eliminate smog. It is this dream that keeps us steadfast in our beliefs and persistent in our efforts, allowing us to constantly reset and break free from our limitations, ultimately becoming a better version of ourselves.
2018, here we come! Let the brave forge ahead fearlessly, let the strivers soar to great heights, and let the determined achieve their goals.
