China veteran Kaiser Kuo examines the ten Chinese companies, which are booming in China’s economy, despite the pressure it is under. Most names might be new to the non-Chinese, but these ten are worth putting on your China watch list, if they are not yet, he writes at the World Economic Forum: CATL (宁德时代), Envision Energy (远景能源), Haier (海尔集团), Huawei (华为), JinkoSolar (晶科能源), LONGi Green Energy Technology (隆基绿能科技股份有限公司), Meituan (美团), Pop Mart (泡泡玛特), Seres Group (赛力斯), Xiaohongshu (小红书 / RedNote),
Kaiser Kuo on Haier:
Status: Public (SSE: 600690), also listed in Hong Kong
Founded: 1984 by Zhang Ruimin
Headquarters: Qingdao, Shandong province
Main Businesses: Smart appliances, IoT, home automation solutions, digital factories
Why It Matters:
The oldest company on our list, Qingdao-based Haier revolutionized Chinese entrepreneurship — famously when its CEO used a sledgehammer to destroy a defective fridge in the year of its founding. In the 40 years since, it’s grown from a white goods company known mainly for its dormitory refrigerators into a global IoT appliance leader, integrating AI across its platforms and operating micro-factories in over 20 global markets while targeting zero-carbon operations.What You Probably Didn’t Know:
Haier spun off nearly a dozen micro-factories: small, flexible production units focused on local demand and customization. In Qingdao, one “dark factory” — so-called because there’s no need for lights in this almost fully robotic operation — produces washing machines and fridges autonomously, with no more than three human overseers.
Think of it as…
GE Appliances meets Bosch’s precision engineering, with a dash of Netflix’s AI-driven personalization and modular, user-centric flair.
Nine more at the World Economic Forum.
Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.
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