The Flower King Xiong Chaohua's Path to Growing Flowers
When the name Xiong Chaohua is mentioned, people in the city's horticulture industry are all familiar with it. Twenty-six years ago, he was still a young man engaged in flower cultivation and vegetable production in Group 2 of Hongba Village, Xiangbi Town, Cuiping District. Relying on science and technology and driven by a passion for entrepreneurship, he painstakingly studied horticultural techniques, continuously improved his skills, and grew his company. Today, his Huihua Horticulture Company has embarked on a development path integrating "production, supply, sales, and maintenance." He has set an example for the people of relying on science and technology to prosper through hard work, and has led the surrounding people to develop the flower industry and embark on the road to prosperity.
Relying on Science and Technology to Strengthen the Enterprise
Since Xiong Chaohua began flower production in 1989, he has gone through the process from traditional flower production to specialized, enterprise-based flower production. During this period, he earnestly studied flower cultivation techniques and relied on science and technology to strengthen his enterprise. In order to increase his professional knowledge, he participated in self-study in the Landscape Flower major of the Landscape Department of Beijing Agricultural College, and in June 1999 obtained a college diploma in that major. In 2002, Xiong Chaohua obtained the technical title of landscape engineer, becoming one of the first outstanding talents in rural industrialization and urban landscape horticulture technology in Yibin City. In the process of flower production, based on market demand, he mainly introduced valuable new varieties such as Aglaia odorata, Michelia alba (white magnolia), Bougainvillea spectabilis (bougainvillea), Western azalea, Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo), Podocarpus macrophyllus (buddhist pine), and indoor foliage plants, and tapped wild resources and valuable nursery stock for scientific cultivation and meticulous nurturing, greatly enhancing the market competitiveness of his flower products.
In terms of technological innovation, with the goal of creating distinctive products, he broke through traditional landscape horticulture techniques and mastered new processes. He mainly developed and introduced advanced techniques such as Sichuan-style bonsai making and the natural rapid shaping method. Through technological innovation, the bonsai shaping cycle was shortened, and economic benefits increased by nearly ten times. At the same time, he further developed the large-scale production and promotion of bonsai, meticulously cultivating distinctive products mainly featuring Podocarpus macrophyllus (buddhist pine), Bougainvillea spectabilis (bougainvillea), and Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo) bonsai, placing him in a leading position in the same industry citywide, and the quality of the bonsai he produced and cultivated received unanimous praise from industry insiders.
In terms of talent training, Xiong Chaohua saw that with market development and technological innovation, the demand for professional talent had become the main support for flower horticulture technology. To this end, he innovated once again on the original basis, gradually shifting from the previous family-style instruction and training to building a professional talent team, forming two training approaches: "internal and external." In recent years, he has trained more than 300 flower horticulture talents, laying the foundation for the transformation of talent resources into talent capital. The professional talent team he trained has become the main force of flower horticulture technology in the city and surrounding areas, greatly promoting the rapid development of the flower horticulture industry and injecting vitality into rural economic development and the adjustment of the agricultural industrial structure.
In terms of enterprise development, Xiong Chaohua actively explored the path of industrialized development. In 1989, he was still mainly engaged in small-scale family flower production. In 1994, he founded the Yibin Zhuangyuan Flower Horticulture Farm. In 2002, he founded Yibin Huihua Horticulture Co., Ltd. Along the way, he gradually grew and expanded, forming a one-stop service flower horticulture enterprise integrating "production, supply, sales, and maintenance." By absorbing modern enterprise management systems and establishing modern enterprise management concepts, his company has now risen to become one of the top five in the industry in Yibin City, and in 2003 was rated by the Sichuan Quality Supervision Publicity Center as a "Quality-Focused, Rule-Abiding, Jointly Building Integrity" unit, embarking on the path of large-scale, industrialized operation and development.
Honest Operation Enriches a Whole Region
Since the development of Yibin Huihua Horticulture Co., Ltd., Xiong Chaohua has been grounded in reality and adhered to the concept of "integrity wins customers," establishing a strong production and sales base. He has now built a horticulture farm with a total area of more than 120 mu, which has been rated as a "Sichuan Province Urban Greening Grade-3 Enterprise" and a "Cuiping District Private Science and Technology Enterprise," with an annual output value of more than 1 million yuan. Through years of exploration and development, it has now formed distinctive business projects mainly featuring foliage plants, high-grade bonsai, valuable flowers and trees, and landscape engineering, with its market spanning both within and outside the province and city. The company has undertaken greening projects for more than 50 units, and its design and construction have received widespread praise, with a greening project area of more than 100,000 sq m. Major projects include Yibin Petroleum Depot, the Municipal Transportation Bureau, Yibin Highway Investment Company, Unit 67902 of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Shunan Road and Bridge Company, the government of Shuifu County, Yunnan Province, and the State-Owned Sanjiang Machinery Factory, among other provincial and municipal civilized units.
Xiong Chaohua's horticulture company has also spurred the enthusiasm of surrounding people to grow flowers and prosper, producing obvious social benefits. Since the company's founding, it has cumulatively paid more than 100,000 yuan in taxes and profits, provided employment for more than 30 unemployed persons and surplus rural laborers, and trained more than 300 horticultural technical talents, making a positive contribution to developing and strengthening the rural talent team. At the same time, Xiong Chaohua also sets aside part of his funds each year to support the public welfare undertakings of the village and community, and to care for and comfort vulnerable groups and elderly people living alone.