Aquatic Products King Zhang Jianlong Leads Villagers to Prosper Together

Zhang Jianlong is an ordinary crab farmer by the shores of Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou. Having worked in the aquatic products industry for more than 20 years, he has kept exploring and boldly putting ideas into practice. With a business mind that understands operations and excels at management, he has grown from a small-scale aquaculture farmer into what is now a group company integrating aquatic product breeding, processing, research and development, and distribution and marketing. He also took the lead in establishing the Changshu Jintangshi Aquatic Products Professional Cooperative, leading more farmers to jointly breed fish, shrimp and crabs and step onto the road to prosperity together.

Honesty Kept in Mind for More Than 20 Years

In Shajiabang Town, Changshu, there are more than 200 aquatic product brokers, big and small. As one of them, Zhang Jianlong believes that one must not only be able to endure hardship and have keen market insight, but also uphold the principle of honest business dealings.

Doing business in fish is different from other aquatic products; there is no room for the slightest delay in transportation, and the two words "live" and "fresh" are extremely important. Every time he makes an appointment with a farmer, Zhang Jianlong must arrive on time at the fishing site to inspect the goods and negotiate the price on the spot according to specifications and variety. Although there is no written agreement, once a price is set, he never breaks the deal. Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, Zhang Jianlong has always been honest and trustworthy and hardworking. His keeping his word and his honesty and trustworthiness have won everyone's trust and support; when he encounters difficulties, peers are happy to provide financial support, and friends are all willing to lend a helping hand on their own initiative.

As business grows bigger and bigger, June to August every year is the busiest time for Zhang Jianlong and his wife. Farmers must make an appointment with them at least twenty or thirty days in advance for fishing time, otherwise their turn simply will not come. During those days, Zhang Jianlong confirms the specific fishing time with the farmers before 5 a.m. every day, then tracks the goods and sets prices, keeping the netted fish alive on his own boat while waiting for customers to come and collect them. On the busiest day, Zhang Jianlong and his wife had to run to at least four or five places, and it was only around 2 a.m. that they saw off the last cargo truck.

Joining Forces to Lead Crab Farmers to Prosperity Together

Zhang Jianlong has always believed that small operations cannot gain a firm foothold in fierce market competition. Therefore, in 2000 he established Jintangshi Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. and applied to register the "Jintangshi" trademark. After the company was founded, he ran all kinds of aquatic products, and business became easier than before. As the "Jintangshi" brand made a name for itself, the growing prominence of the brand effect prompted some aquatic product brokers in Shajiabang Town with business acumen to also set up limited companies one after another, treating brands as the "magic weapon" for winning in fierce market competition.

In 2002, Zhang Jianlong established a 1,600-mu pollution-free hairy crab breeding base at Yangcheng Lake. In the same year, upon approval by the national entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau, he was among the first to obtain a license for breeding animals for export. Starting that year, he successively exported Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs to Singapore and Japan. The long-accumulated Shajiabang Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs regained their hairy crab prestige, crossed the ocean, and "climbed" onto the dining tables of foreign friends.

In Zhang Jianlong's view, to make an enterprise strong and big, one must first make products refined and excellent. The company vigorously strengthened pre-production training, pre-production and mid-production services, and post-production follow-up for aquaculture, vigorously promoted pollution-free standardized breeding models, and created and made famous a "green label." This new ecological breeding method, which does not give fish "medicine," opened up his thinking.

Valuing Reputation, Firmly Saying "No" in the Face of Temptation

Through many years of operating aquatic products, Zhang Jianlong figured out the tricks of the trade. Whenever the market is saturated and fish prices fall sharply, he temporarily keeps the fish he has purchased alive in fish ponds and sells them again when prices rise. This is "reverse thinking" in business, and through this buying in and selling out, he can often sell at a good price.

Once, an aquatic product broker from out of town saw that Zhang Jianlong's company was doing very brisk business, so he made a special trip to negotiate with him. The other party proposed exporting crabs in the name of Zhang Jianlong's company, with the source of the crabs to be organized by the other party, offering a rebate of 50,000 yuan for every ton sold. At several dozen tons a year, that would be millions. Zhang Jianlong sternly refused the other party's proposal. In his view, a gentleman loves wealth but gets it in a proper way, and he would absolutely never do such improper things.

Hairy crabs bought from other places, because they come from different producing areas, are certainly not as good in quality as hairy crabs produced at Yangcheng Lake, and their prices are far lower than those of Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs. Someone gave Zhang Jianlong a tip, saying: "Your hairy crabs sell very well. As long as you take some cheap crabs from other regions and put your brand on them, you can earn even more." Zhang Jianlong said: "Don't think customers are all laymen; there are plenty of shrewd customers who know their food. I cannot resort to deception to cheat customers, otherwise my reputation will be gone."

Today, Zhang Jianlong's company has become a local leading enterprise, and the three products it deals in - shrimp, black carp and crabs - have all been included in the ranks of Suzhou famous-brand products and pollution-free products. Zhang Jianlong has also received honors such as "One of Jiangsu Province's 100 Outstanding Figures in Agriculture and Forestry" and "Suzhou Municipal Model Worker." Facing these honors, Zhang Jianlong said he will continue to work hard to lead more people from his hometown to develop and prosper and to build up his hometown.