The King of Cherry Blossoms Makes Billions with a Mysterious Strategy

At 18, he left his rural hometown for Guangzhou with just 20 yuan to make his way. Eight years later, at only 26, he already possessed billions in wealth. In 1997 he entered the cherry blossom industry. He says what he grows is cherry blossoms, but what he sells is not cherry blossoms. His way of making money makes people curious. Now he has over 40,000 mu of cherry blossom bases nationwide, and his enterprise's annual revenue exceeds 700 million yuan. Watch how he uses his unique business approach to make cherry blossoms bloom and dreams blossom!

A reporter came to Tai'an City, Shandong Province, for an interview. As soon as they entered Huanjiayu Village, they saw this scene.

Reporter: "Are these cherry blossom trees?"

Farmer: "Yes, they're all cherry blossom trees."

Reporter: "How can you bear to cut them down?"

Farmer: "They're worthless, can't be sold."

With the cherry blossom season approaching, a week earlier Li Zhonglai had cut down more than 1,000 cherry blossom trees.

Farmer: "Like this one, this (one tree) at 5 yuan and nobody wants it, can't sell it. The buyers who come offer 3 yuan."

Reporter: "How much do they offer?"

Farmer: "3 yuan (per tree)."

Reporter: "That cheap?"

Farmer: "No choice."

Reporter: "How old is this one (tree age)?"

Farmer: "4 years."

Reporter: "The diameter is also about 5 cm or so."

Farmer: "Yes."

Reporter: "So in a normal year, how much should you be able to sell it for?"

Farmer: "40 yuan (per tree), easily."

Li Zhonglai told the reporter that he had been growing cherry blossoms for over ten years and had never seen such rock-bottom prices as this year. If he couldn't sell them, he still had to spend money maintaining them. With no other choice, he could only cut down the trees with a heavy heart.

In other areas of Tai'an City, scenes of tree-cutting could be seen everywhere. After farmers cut down the cherry blossom trees, there was only one use for them——burning them as firewood. Locals all said the cherry blossom market had gone too crazy. Not only in Shandong, but the plunge in cherry blossom prices swept across multiple provinces. His name is Cheng Weichun, and he grows cherry blossoms in Yunnan Province. When he met the reporter, he said this.

Cheng Weichun: "If I keep growing cherry blossoms, I'll lose everything!"

Cheng Weichun said that this year's cherry blossom trees locally couldn't even fetch half of the 2012 price, and some planting companies had already collapsed because they couldn't hold on. Everyone said growing cherry blossom trees was a total loss, but one person disagreed with this view. He is the protagonist of this episode——He Zongru.

He Zongru: "Who says growing cherry blossoms doesn't make money?"

Reporter: "That old farmer just said, for example, for (cherry blossom trees) of this thickness, others offered him 3 yuan (per tree)."

He Zongru: "Over on my side, at least 300 yuan (per tree)."

Reporter: "Like this thickness, right?"

He Zongru: "Yes, at least 300 yuan (per tree)."

Reporter: "Is the price difference that big?"

He Zongru: "Of course."

Reporter: "So they say these cherry blossom trees don't make money. What do you think?"

He Zongru: "How could cherry blossom trees not make money? Cherry blossom trees are very valuable. This year's price is even higher than last year's."

He Zongru made a special trip from Guangdong to Tai'an this time to do one thing. Once this thing was accomplished, the farmers' cherry blossom trees would become valuable, not only selling but selling at a high price, which made the farmers overjoyed when they heard it.

Farmer: "This feeling, I can't express it, I want to kneel down and kowtow to him, this feeling."

Reporter: "That excited?"

Farmer: "Of course, we were worried sick."

Making the farmers' cherry blossom trees multiply in value was something He Zongru would not only do in Shandong but also roll out in other provinces nationwide, to turn around the industry's predicament.

Farmer: "Come to our village, try our Tai'an pancakes."

He Zongru: "Don't go to the trouble, all right? If I eat one of your pancakes, you'll lose dozens of cherry blossom trees. All right, goodbye, goodbye, okay."

What kind of person is He Zongru exactly? Does he really have the ability to make dead trees come back to life?

(He Zongru's cherry blossom planting bases in Guangdong, Shandong, and Sichuan.) He has over 40,000 mu of cherry blossom bases nationwide, and his enterprise's annual revenue is over 700 million yuan. People gave him the nickname——King of Cherry Blossoms.

People in the industry all say He Zongru is a figure shrouded in mystery. No matter how the cherry blossom market rises and falls, he is never affected. Everyone knows his cherry blossoms are expensive, but few know how he does it. During the interview, He Zongru said this to the reporter.

He Zongru: "Farmers grow cherry blossoms and sell cherry blossoms. We also grow cherry blossoms, but what I sell is not cherry blossoms."

Reporter: "Not cherry blossoms, then what?"

He Zongru: "Of course it's not cherry blossoms."

What exactly He Zongru sells, no one is quite sure, but many people know that if you find He Zongru and his cherry blossoms, you can make money too.

This is He Zongru's company headquarters in Guangzhou. Every day people from all over the country come to find He Zongru, wanting to join his cherry blossom industry.

Lu Qi, Party Leadership Group Member of the People's Government of Xinjin County, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province: "We trust him very much, he has this strength, so we urgently hope Mr. He and his team will come to Xinjin County to invest."

Ke Xiaoping, General Manager of a company in Kunming City, Yunnan Province: "Because I personally really like (cherry blossoms), I want to make an investment."

Reporter: "So what did you do before?"

Ke Xiaoping, General Manager of a company in Kunming City, Yunnan Province: "I used to do sports venues, and also invested in kindergartens."

During the interview, Guo Shunyuan, Chairman of a listed company, also came to He Zongru's company. He said it was precisely because he saw He Zongru's distinctive operational ability that he planned to put up 10 billion yuan in funds to jointly develop the cherry blossom industry with He Zongru.

Guo Shunyuan, Chairman of a group in Guangdong Province: "I will have a strategic cooperation with Mr. He. Our fund is about 10 billion yuan. Regarding this cherry blossom industry, over the past year or so we've been understanding it very deeply, and recently the efforts have been quite substantial. A few days ago we even went to Wuhan and Beijing, going everywhere to inspect sites."

Some people shed tears over cherry blossoms, some go bankrupt over cherry blossoms, yet He Zongru's business rises against the market. Compared with the circumstances of many peers, it is a world of ice and fire. What unique business approach does He Zongru have?

He Zongru: "Make me look imposing."