Xu Wenrong, founder of Hengdian: The main construction of Yuanmingyuan will be completed by the end of this year

Xu Wenrong, founder of Hengdian Group, is a man who can't stay idle. He hopes that he can make some more contributions to the cultural cause. With his persistent efforts, Hengdian, which is already famous for its film and television tourism, will add a lot of "new content, new elements". For more than 40 years, private investment policies have been different, and Xu Wenrong has always been able to cope with them with ease.

Original title Zhejiang News Interview with Xu Wenrong, founder of Hengdian Group: Xu Wenrong

, founder of Hengdian Group, is an insatiable person. He hopes that he can make some more contributions to the cultural cause. With his persistent efforts, Hengdian, which is already famous for its film and television tourism, will add a lot of "new content and new elements". For more than 40 years, private investment policies have been different, and Xu Wenrong has always been able to cope with them with ease.

Although Xu Wenrong is over eighty years old, he is still active on the front line of entrepreneurship and innovation. After stepping down the position of chairman of Hengdian Group, he started his own entrepreneurial project, which is also a rare sight among Zhejiang businessmen.

On

July 22, the reporter interviewed Xu Wenrong. This octogenarian who has retired from the position of chairman of the group for 13 years is still active on the front line of entrepreneurship and innovation. He is called "the oldest front-line entrepreneur" by some media.

Being in his 80s should be a time to take care of himself. However, Xu Wenrong, an old businessman, is busy on the front line, working as usual every day and continuing to fight for his career. Looking at Bamianshan, the symbol mountain of Hengdian, the era Xu Wenrong has experienced is not what it used to be, and this includes his own contributions.

Xu Wenrong, who founded Hengdian Group, handed over the group to his son as early as 2003. Logically speaking, he can live a relaxed and comfortable life now, but he has no leisure time.

"After I retired, many people saw that I was not free, and sometimes I was busier than before. Someone came to advise me that now that I am successful and have nothing to lack, I should go around and have a look while I can still walk. My family also advised me the same, but I have too many things in my heart that I want to do." In an interview, Xu Wenrong specifically mentioned a poem by Cao Cao-"An old man is upright, his ambition is thousands of miles away. The heroic man is in his old age, and his heart is full of confidence."

During the interview, Xu Wenrong received several phone calls, including the layout of specific matters of the project, which was very detailed. He said that starting a business requires "comprehensive command." According to the staff around him, Xu Wenrong cares about the new media situation in several scenic spots almost every day. Although he is not proficient in operating new media, he still requires the staff to report important contents to him.

His efforts have won praise from the times. On the morning of May 15 this year,"big shots" from the national tourism industry gathered in Jinan, Shandong Province to participate in the China Tourism Industry Investment and Financing Promotion Conference. The second "China Tourism Industry Outstanding Contribution Award"(Pegasus Award) was officially announced at this meeting. A total of ten private entrepreneurs who have invested more than 10 billion yuan in China's tourism industry were on the list. Xu Wenrong became one of the people who won the grand prize."I am also the only private entrepreneur in Zhejiang Province who won this honor in 2016."

Some people say that he started his business in his 40s, began to transform in his 60s, and what he gained in his 80s was "China's version of Hollywood." However, Xu Wenrong said that what he has been most fascinated by in recent years is the cultural industry.

He said with emotion that over the past 40 years of entrepreneurship and innovation, along the way, there are the hardships of "finding rice and putting it into the pot" at the beginning of the day, and the joy of winning in the mall. At the age of more than 80, he was already calm down at this time. "But one thing has never changed, that is, based on my hometown and seeking welfare for the people of Hengdian. Whether it was when I founded the silk factory at the beginning or now I am building the Yuanming New Garden, I have never wavered on this point."

By building strong regional tourism resources, focusing on the overall situation, organically integrating various surrounding resources, and combining the construction of new rural areas, upgrading regional transportation, scenic spots, accommodation, catering, entertainment and other basic supporting facilities to meet the needs of mass tourism. At the same time, we will guide and support the linkage between agriculture, industry, commerce and other industries and the tourism industry, and develop a comprehensive and leading scenic spot that integrates diverse products, industries, and functions, ultimately promoting the upgrading and prosperity of the regional tourism industry, from industry to driving regional development has exemplary significance. This is the direction that Xu Wenrong is constantly striving for.

New Yuanmingyuan-Hongci Yonghu's

three entrepreneurial ventures, from manufacturing to cultural tourism,

Xu Wenrong's development process to become a famous entrepreneur at home and abroad is a difficult history of entrepreneurship and innovation for Zhejiang businessmen.

Xu Wenrong, who started his business in 1975, can be said to have started from scratch. At that time, Hengdian, like many places, lacked materials and people lived in poverty. Xu Wenrong started with a loan of 2000 yuan from the commune, and he managed to run the silk factory at that time into a brilliant and colorful manner.

The story of this period is still vivid in Xu Wenrong's mind. He told reporters about his early entrepreneurial experience like a few family treasures. Xu Wenrong, who started his business in his 40s, had no entrepreneurial experience before. In fact, he had no entrepreneurial environment and opportunities before. "When I started my business in 1975, it was at the end of the Cultural Revolution. The rebels were still carrying out cultural attacks and fighting. I risked the risk to go to the county to sign a seal, and finally opened a silk factory, which became the starting point for starting a business." After the silk factory was put into operation, it earned 76,000 yuan in the first year, 150,000 yuan in the second year, and 300,000 yuan in the third year. The three-year development was almost a myth at that time.

"Later, Hengdian Group began to develop chemicals, electronics and later entered the cultural tourism industry, and the company grew bigger and bigger." Xu Wenrong called Hengdian Group's transformation of tourism culture the second venture. Since 1996, Xu Wenrong has been involved in the film and television tourism industry and built the first film and television shooting base "Guangzhou Street in 19th Century South Guangdong", setting the first marriage between the corporate world and the film and television industry. At the same time, he cleverly grafted film and television shooting with the development of tourism, creating a unique Hengdian film and television cultural tourism industry.

In 1996, Hengdian Group built the "19th Century Guangzhou Street in South Guangdong" for Xie Jin's film "The Opium War". In 1997, it built the "Qin Palace" for Chen Kaige's film "Jing Ke Assassination of the King of Qin". In the future, film and television shooting bases such as Hong Kong Street, Qingming Shanghe Map, and Ming and Qing Palace Garden will be built one after another. Xu Wenrong believes that the scenes in many domestic film and television cities are too single. "If Hengdian Film and Television City wants to survive, it must try its best to meet the shooting needs of various crew groups for various scenes. When the crew enters Hengdian, they can find all the scenes they need, and there is no need to transfer."

Since 2000, Hengdian Film and Television City has been implementing the "rent-free policy", attracting crew from all over the country to film. The agglomeration effect has gradually taken shape, and Hengdian Film and Television City has a unique competitive advantage.

Over the past 20 years, Hengdian has invested tens of billions of yuan in the tourism industry and has built buildings from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Qing, and Republic of China. It has a total of 32 large-scale film and television shooting bases and 21 of the largest studios in China. It is the world's largest real-life film and television shooting base. So far, nearly 42,000 domestic and foreign film and television dramas have been filmed in Hengdian, and the production of costume dramas accounts for two-thirds of the country's total.

From starting a business in 1975 to handing over the baton in 2003, under the leadership of Xu Wenrong, Hengdian Group has established more than 700 factories, forming the brand effect of Hengdian Group.

Xu Wenrong was also one of the early entrepreneurs to invest in education, medical care and other fields. Hengdian Group established many hospitals and schools in its early years. Hengdian has also overcome many difficulties in private investment in these fields. Breaking through policy bottlenecks and opening up the public utility sector was itself the result of Hengdian Group's efforts at that time; however, after the investment, the hospitals and schools founded by Hengdian Group encountered embarrassing situations such as difficulty in retaining talents. Xu Wenrong initially estimated that during his management of Hengdian Group, the total amount of social utilities and public welfare projects invested exceeded 7 billion yuan. In addition to hospitals and schools, sewage treatment plants, power plants, etc. were also built in Hengdian.

If the first venture was to establish Hengdian Group's industry, then the second venture was to successfully transform into film and television culture, and the third venture was to plan his new cultural tourism after retiring from the position of chairman in 2003. project.

For Xu Wenrong,"the biggest cultural dream of his life and the biggest cultural project of his life" is to rebuild the burned Yuanmingyuan that was then. This huge project, covering an area of more than 7200 acres, is called "Yuanming New Garden", and is said to have a total investment of 50 billion yuan. In order to clarify the relationship with Hengdian Group, Xu Wenrong registered and established the Hengdian Co-creation, Shared Wealth and Sharing Working Committee (referred to as the "Hengdian Fourth Communist Party Committee"), a social organization. As the initiator of Yuanming New Park, Xu Wenrong personally served as Hengdian Fourth Communist Party Committee Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the Construction of Yuanming New Park.

Raising funds and investing, private capital is on the road

in Xu Wenrong's office. In the most conspicuous place, there is a calligraphy plaque with the three characters "China Dream" written on it, and these three words have become the biggest motivation for Xu Wenrong's three entrepreneurial ventures.

"Film and television culture, tourism culture, sports culture, conference culture, Sanjiao culture, landscape culture, international exhibition culture, performing arts culture, high-tech culture, national defense and military culture, cultural and creative culture, collection culture, Chinese and Western wedding culture, national tourism culture, Canal culture and so on." Xu Wenrong talked about more than 10 diversified industries extended from the tourism industry in one go, and culture has become Xu Wenrong's most concerned career.

Hengdian's tourism experience has developed from nothing, nothing out of nothing to everything, and has initially formed a full range of tourism benefits, a full range of tourism space, a full range of tourism products, a full range of tourism landscapes, a full range of tourism elements, and a full range of tourism industry.

But when it comes to the construction process of Yuanming New Garden, Xu Wenrong is full of grievances. The idea of building a Yuanming New Garden was already outlined in Xu Wenrong's mind as early as the 1990s. At that time, Guangzhou Street, a scenic spot in Hengdian, was well received by tourists after it opened. Xu Wenrong wondered if he could imitate the appearance of Guangzhou in that year and build a Yuanmingyuan in that year? However, this idea was not made public at the time.

Since 2012, when he was free, he began to pay full attention to the construction of Yuanming New Garden. The Summer Garden of the Yuanming New Garden, which is under construction, will reproduce the scene of "burning the Yuanming Garden" and achieve realistic visual effects through modern photo-acoustic and electronic technology. "Beijing's Yuanmingyuan was burned. We used modern technology to demonstrate it, hoping that through this form, we will warn people not to forget national humiliation."

There will always be problems of one kind or another in the process of private investment. Even Xu Wenrong's third venture was not immune. As a well-known Zhejiang businessman, he faces problems such as financing, and he also faces doubts from the media.

In the early days of Hengdian Group's business, it also borrowed money. At that time, the bank loan credit was good, but Xu Wenrong complained that "the loan amount was too small" at that time. He believed: "You still need to borrow some money to start a business." As the company grows bigger and bigger, there is basically no problem in financing. However, when Xu Wenrong started his own business and built Yuanming New Park for the third time, he also encountered financing difficulties. Some banks took a wait-and-see attitude towards this project and controlled relevant loans.

Xu Wenrong said that he no longer managed Hengdian Group after 2003 and "has no money on hand again." This old Zhejiang businessman came up with the strategy of "using people from all over the world, gathering funds from all over the world, and seeking benefits from all over the world." With his active efforts, the funding problem was quickly solved.

What makes Xu Wenrong even more uneasy is the media's aggressive questioning voice. The old Zhejiang businessman finally had to personally respond to relevant questions. He felt that his reconstruction of Yuanmingyuan did not infringe on the intellectual property rights of Beijing Yuanmingyuan, but only used it as a tourism and film and television base for people to visit. He also responded to the media's concerns about land transfer, funding sources and Yuanmingyuan related materials: Hengdian's barren hills were used, the funds were solved through a series of methods, and Yuanmingyuan materials had also been collected and sorted out.

Xu Wenrong said that Hengdian Yuanming New Garden, which was invested and built in accordance with Beijing Yuanmingyuan, is now in full shape. The main construction will be completed by the end of this year. The earliest completed Spring Garden opened its doors to welcome visitors in May last year. Yuanming New Garden also includes New Changchun Garden (Summer Garden), New Qichun Garden (Autumn Garden), New Changchun Garden (Winter Garden) and other parks. At that time, the Yuanming New Garden will also open its doors to welcome visitors with the Animal Herbarium, Ice and Snow Sculpture Hall, and the Happy Night Fuhai Night View Project-a large-scale sound, light, electricity and multimedia water show built at a cost of 100 million yuan. In his view, the new model of "culture + technology" is on the right track and will achieve greater development.

Editor: Nancy