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The manufacturing iron lady who built Gree into the world's largest air conditioner company through ironclad channel control and craftsmanship
Dong Mingzhu was born in 1954 in Nanjing, Jiangsu. After her husband passed away when she was 36, she raised her son alone and joined the predecessor of Gree Electric — Zhuhai Haili Air Conditioning Factory — as a salesperson in 1990. Through exceptional sales ability and strict commitment to quality, she was promoted from grassroots salesperson to general manager in less than ten years, and has served as Chairman since 2012. With the core conviction that quality must never be compromised for profit, she established Gree's unique full-channel control system (refusing to sell on Taobao, insisting on dedicated stores), raised R&D investment ratios to the highest in the industry, and made Gree air conditioners the world's top-selling brand for multiple consecutive years. Her strong management style and willingness to directly confront internet giants like Alibaba have made her an iconic figure in China's manufacturing industry.
Dong Mingzhu believes the foundation of a company is product quality. Once quality standards are lowered for short-term profit, the most fundamental consumer trust is lost. This belief has been fully demonstrated in key moments such as Gree's air conditioner recall events and refusals to engage in low-price competition.
Source: 董明珠接受央视对话节目专访，2019年 / 格力电器2020年年报董事长致辞
Dong Mingzhu insists that Gree must control its own sales channels and refuses to entrust its fate to third-party platforms. This philosophy led her to refuse selling on Alibaba's platforms and insist on developing Gree's own dedicated store system — even at the cost of significant short-term online traffic — to protect brand pricing power and quality discourse.
Source: 董明珠与雷军亿元赌局相关采访，2013年 / 格力电器渠道策略公告，2015年
Dong Mingzhu believes that manufacturing companies relying on purchased core technology (like compressors) have no firm foundation — they must develop independently and build patent moats. Under her leadership, Gree raised its R&D investment ratio to above 5%, accumulated over 100,000 patent applications, and established one of the strongest technology moats in the global air conditioner industry.
Source: 格力电器技术战略白皮书，2021年
Dong Mingzhu is known for strong execution capability. She believes the authority of corporate rules and regulations comes from rigorous enforcement — any exception erodes the foundation of the management system. This belief has both delivered extreme organizational discipline at Gree and made her management style highly controversial.
Source: 董明珠自传《行棋无悔》，2006年
By building a self-controlled sales network (dedicated store system), ensure the brand is not held hostage by third-party platform pricing and traffic, turning channels into a core competitive barrier.
In 2015, Gree rejected Alibaba's channel integration proposal and insisted on maintaining its independent dedicated store system. At the time, Gree had 30,000 dedicated stores offline, covering third- and fourth-tier cities, and this moat enabled Gree to maintain higher gross margins than competitors during home appliance price wars.
Refuse to participate in price wars; build higher pricing power through traceable quality advantages, making consumers pay more for a trustworthy brand and product longevity rather than competing for the lowest price.
In the variable-frequency air conditioner market competition, Gree insisted on selling at 15-20% higher than comparable products, using five-year-plus failure rate data to prove lower total cost of ownership, successfully maintaining pricing power in the mid-to-high-end market.
By self-developing core components (compressors, motors) and controlling channels, establish independent control at critical nodes in the industry chain, reducing dependence on external suppliers and platforms.
In 2003, Gree independently developed rotary compressors, completely breaking free from dependence on imported compressors from Japan's Daikin and others. Compressors subsequently became one of Gree's most core technical barriers, giving Gree advantages in raw material cost control that competitors found difficult to replicate.
Dong Mingzhu's insistence on offline dedicated stores meant Gree missed market share during the rapid growth of online e-commerce in the short term, but this also protected brand premiums and channel partner interests — a complex strategic trade-off.
Dong Mingzhu's strong-leader style has made Gree's execution extremely powerful, but it has also created a management structure highly dependent on one person — the succession question remains one of Gree's ongoing concerns.
1990-1994
Starting from zero, mastering sales and market understanding, accumulating customer relationships and channel knowledge
Joined as a salesperson at 36 as a single mother, recovered 420,000 yuan in bad debts left by a predecessor within 40 days, quickly became the company's top salesperson, establishing her managerial status.
1994-2001
Building channel control systems, promoting quality-first corporate culture
Promoted to marketing general manager, led the establishment of Gree's national dedicated store channel network, and established Gree's market strategy of not engaging in price wars.
2001-2012
Driving independent R&D, breaking dependence on foreign core technology, and making Gree air conditioners the world's top seller
As president, led Gree's independent development of core technologies including compressors and variable-frequency technology; Gree entered the Fortune Global 500 for multiple consecutive years.
2012-至今
Maintaining Gree's brand moat, exploring investments in new energy vehicles, chips, and other new areas
After becoming Chairman, continued to strengthen Gree's core competitiveness while leading investments in Yinlong New Energy (later renamed Gree Titanium) and chip companies — highly controversial moves.
Context: Grew up in an ordinary worker's family, later studied statistics at Nanjing Normal University
Decision: Chose science education, laying the foundation for later precise management
Reasoning: Family and era background shaped pragmatic, hardworking values
Outcome: Established data-driven management thinking
Lesson: The shaping of management thinking through basic education matters more than the specific major
Context: After her husband's death, raising her young son alone, joined Zhuhai Haili Air Conditioning Factory (Gree's predecessor) in sales at age 36
Decision: Ventured south into an unfamiliar industry, starting from the bottom of sales
Reasoning: For the family's livelihood, restarting a career at an older age — with no way back, she could go all out
Outcome: Quickly became the company's top salesperson, demonstrating extraordinary business instincts
Lesson: Adversity often unleashes a person's greatest potential
Context: When taking over the Anhui market, she inherited 420,000 yuan in bad debts from her predecessor and recovered the full amount in 40 days
Decision: Insisted on not leaving Anhui until all debts were recovered
Reasoning: Company interests must be protected and rules must be enforced — difficulty is not a reason to give up
Outcome: Established a personal reputation for determined execution within the company
Lesson: Perseverance at critical moments builds trust more than capability alone
Context: Through outstanding sales performance, was promoted to company marketing general manager and began leading Gree's channel system construction
Decision: Promoted the Gree dedicated store model, reducing dependence on large home appliance retail stores
Reasoning: Controlling channels is a prerequisite for maintaining quality discourse and pricing power
Outcome: Gree built a nationwide dedicated store network, and channel competitive barriers began forming
Lesson: Channel construction requires long-term investment and must be pushed even when short-term commercial benefits are maximized
Context: Took over as President of Gree Electric and began fully leading company strategy
Decision: Significantly increased R&D investment, pushing for independent development of core technologies
Reasoning: Manufacturing companies without independent core technology are vulnerable; moats must be self-built
Outcome: Gree broke through foreign barriers in core technologies like compressors, dramatically improving competitiveness
Lesson: Technology moats are the most sustainable competitive advantage in manufacturing
Context: Elevated to Chairman of Gree Group, becoming one of the most powerful women in China's manufacturing industry
Decision: Continued to deepen channel control and technology R&D strategy
Reasoning: Gree's moat lies in channels and technology — these two strategies must be steadfastly maintained
Outcome: Gree air conditioners became the world's top-selling brand for multiple consecutive years, becoming an iconic brand of Chinese manufacturing
Lesson: Management style must be highly consistent with corporate strategy; strong-leader style suits execution-intensive strategies
Context: At the 2013 China Economic Annual Figure Awards ceremony, publicly bet Xiaomi founder Lei Jun 100 million RMB on which company would have higher revenue in five years
Decision: Publicly advocated for the manufacturing industry spirit, opposing internet bubble thinking
Reasoning: The true value of manufacturing has long been underestimated; the competitive moat of industry is more durable than traffic
Outcome: Five years later, Gree's revenue surpassed Xiaomi; the bet became an iconic event in the discussion of Chinese manufacturing vs. internet models
Lesson: Sometimes public positioning is a strategy; taking a stand for core values is more important than staying silent
Context: During the period of rapid e-commerce development, Gree refused Alibaba's platform integration proposal and insisted on building its own online channel system
Decision: Refused third-party platform dependency; built independent online direct sales channels
Reasoning: Platform traffic is rented; owned channels are purchased — strategically, the former is a continuous risk
Outcome: In the short term, Gree's online market share was lower than competitors, but long-term channel sovereignty was maintained
Lesson: The price of channel sovereignty is short-term market share, but long-term pricing power and brand discourse are the lifeline of manufacturers
Context: COVID-19 impacted offline channels; Dong Mingzhu personally entered live-stream selling, with the first session exceeding 300 million RMB in sales, demonstrating rapid adaptability to new channels
Decision: Personally explored live-stream e-commerce, using personal IP to endorse the brand
Reasoning: Channels must keep pace with the times, but the prerequisite is that Gree controls the channel rather than relying on external platforms
Outcome: Gree's live-stream system was quickly established, with online sales supplementing offline channel losses
Lesson: Adhering to core principles (channel control) while flexibly adopting new tactics is possible
The Toyota Production System has long been a core reference text in Gree's internal management training system for lean manufacturing; Dong Mingzhu has repeatedly mentioned Toyota's influence on Gree's quality management system in public speeches.
Akio Morita's Made in Japan is a classic repeatedly recommended in Gree's management training for all levels; its views on quality building brands and manufacturing globalization highly align with Gree's strategy, and Dong Mingzhu has repeatedly expressed identification with Morita's manufacturing spirit.
Gree's senior management team lists this book as required reading; Andy Grove's discussions of strategic inflection points and sustained crisis awareness highly align with Dong Mingzhu's strategic choices of maintaining vigilance and continuously strengthening core technologies.
Dong Mingzhu's own autobiography recording her growth from salesperson to president, comprehensively articulating her channel control philosophy, quality-first conviction, and management philosophy — the most important primary source for understanding Dong Mingzhu's thought system.
The historical background of her formative era shaped Dong Mingzhu's deep emotional identification with using industry to serve the nation
Gree's early leader Zhu Jianghong established the quality-first corporate culture that Dong Mingzhu inherited and carried forward
Dong Mingzhu's channel control and quality-first philosophy became one of the most frequently cited models in discussions of China's manufacturing transformation and upgrading
Both are representative Chinese manufacturing figures who insist on independent core technology development, sharing core values of hard work and technological self-reliance
董明珠代表的是中国制造业坚守品质、坚守实业的力量，在互联网泡沫最盛的年代，她是为制造业说话最响的声音。
Dong Mingzhu is a rare example of a strong-willed entrepreneur who built a genuine technology moat in Chinese manufacturing.
