Now it's time for our special series - Movers and Shakers, as we meet some of those who have made remarkable contributions to the Chinese economy and society, during the country's reform and opening-up. Today we will bring you the story of Li Dongsheng, the helmsman of one of China's largest consumer electronics companies -- TCL. Li began his career in the 1980s. Having been a witness and participant to TCL's ups and downs, his experiences can be seen as symbolic of the tremendous changes China has seen during the past four decades.

"Today I'm going to attend the factory T6 operation ceremony, and then the groundbreaking ceremony of the T7 factory. We've invited over 500 guests from around the world, including our suppliers, partners, and clients. The T6 and T7 factories, together with the plants we've already opened, will form the world's largest big-screen display panel industrial cluster."

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO, TCL "Now we've reached an era of new technology where our growth can no longer rely on efficiency and cost control. We can't just keep following others. Instead we should invest in innovation."

This is Li Dongsheng, the head of TCL, one of China's biggest consumer electronics companies. He's here to launch a new product line of semiconductor display panels, and to kick-off construction of a new semiconductor plant. They're a part of China Star Optoelectronics Technology, also known as CSOT. The firm was established by TCL back in 2009.

CSOT has allowed Li's company to become the only TV producer in the Chinese mainland, to have a complete production chain of semiconductor displays. This has broken up the long-held monopolies of Japanese and Korean companies. A couple of years ago Li found out that the global market shares of Japanese TV's were going down rapidly, while that of the Koreans were skyrocketing. That's because Korean TV producers can make their own display panels, but the Japanese aren't there yet.

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO OF TCL "That is why we decided to build and develop our own upstream display parts capabilities. We raised nearly 25 billion yuan for the first CSOT project, the biggest ever investment in TCL history. Now looking back on it, I think it was the right decision."

CSOT made a revenue of over 12 billion yuan in the first half of 2018, having the world's second largest market share of 32-inch LCD panels.

DU JUAN COO OF TCL "Li Dongsheng was the only one who insisted on investing in the display parts. He says we must have upstream resources if we want to go further."

And as his colleagues see it, all major decisions made by Li come from simple reasoning and business knowledge. In 1982, Li quit his job as a government official and joined TTK electronics, TCL's predecessor. Why, one may ask?

Li's goal was to apply what he learned in college, and use that in the field of engineering. In 1985, TTK's shareholder from Hong Kong, withdrew from the board due to widespread concerns of Hong Kong's return to China. This resulted in major business losses. At that critical juncture, Li Dongsheng was entrusted by TTK with a mission to explore new business ventures in Hong Kong.

Transforming from a technician to a project manager was not easy. He could barely comprehend the intricacies of a balance sheet, and was naive when it came to the laws of business and economics. Li even had to start from a basic level when it came to learning business manners and ethics.

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO, TCL "I was wearing a pair of sandals when I first went to Hong Kong. The suit that I brought was wrinkled. My boss told me that I couldn't present myself like that, and asked me to buy a pair of leather shoes and a proper suit."

Li amassed a wealth of business knowledge while working in Hong Kong, and studied economic law and industrial accounting. Within a few months after his arrival, Li managed to get a contract for producing 20,000 answering machines, and thus successfully filled the business void caused by the shareholder withdrawal. A strong ability to learn helped him adapt to his new role as a manager.

DU JUAN COO, TCL "We are under great pressure to report the company's financial circumstances to him, because he knows finance so well that no one can fool him when it comes to numbers. So when it comes to explaining, for example, the importance of cash flow, he knows better than you do."

In September 1985, TCL Communication Equipment Company was founded, and later became China's biggest telephone producer. And in 1993, TCL entered the TV business, and topped the world's list of TV sales in 2005. But efforts to expand into overseas markets drove TCL into its first annual loss in 2006, after 20 years of solid growth.

In 2004, TCL purchased a TV business from French company Thomson, and became the world's largest TV producer. Six months later, TCL became the worlds seventh biggest cellphone maker after buying France's Alcatel-Lucent. Li was therefore dubbed "Mr. TV" of the world by Fortune Magazine in 2004.

But only two years later, he was considered one of China's worst CEO's by Forbes Asia, as the company lost over 700 million yuan, that's roughly 100 million US dollars, because of poor management of its European businesses.

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO, TCL "We failed to keep up with the transformation from a Chinese company to one that operates on a global scale. Besides, technologically upgrading the TV industry happened much faster than we expected. These two factors added up to a huge loss at the initial phase of our internationalization."

Li was criticized at the company's stockholder meeting for the loss. He had to sell some of the corporation's subsidiaries to cash out and keep the company afloat. But he never gave up.

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO, TCL "We didn't let frustration get to us. We firmly believed that it was the right direction to expand overseas. So we stuck to the decision of going out there."

To get through that critical time, Li decided to make some changes, cutting TCL's business scale from over 50 billion yuan to 38 billion.

DU JUAN COO OF TCL "Expanding business is what an enterprise would usually do. But scaling back requires the right boldness of vision and the spirit to sacrifice."

TCL went public in 2004, providing transparency to those both in China and overseas. Li and his team reported TCL's situation to financial institutions, making an effort to keep much needed credit lines. A few pulled out completely, though most of the cooperating banks maintained some of their credit, and more importantly, their support. 

TCL recovered from the 2007 global economic crisis. And last year, the company made over 100 billion yuan in revenue, half of which came from its overseas businesses. Today, TCL's extensive sales and support networks cover Southeast Asia, India, Europe, and North and South America.

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO, TCL "The two merger projects back in 2004 brought us challenges of life and death. I was under great pressure, but there was a voice that kept reminding me that I am the company leader, just like a captain, I cannot fall, otherwise, no one can save the company."

Li stresses that the company has got more to gain than to lose during its internationalization process. For example, one of Thomson's factories in Poland was transferred to TCL after the merger. It has now become the company's logistics center in Europe. All TV parts can be directly delivered to the factory via special trains from China, which are under the Belt and Road Initiative. And products made at the factory can reach every corner of Europe within just 3 days.

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO, TCL "Although we were fully aware of the difficulties and risks of buying Thomson's TV business, we were actually expecting to see the synergy of the merger, which would then help TCL go further abroad."

WANG CHENG SVP,TCL "Because of his entrepreneurial nature that always pursues higher targets, Li believes that merger projects can provide us with a good chance of accessing overseas markets and building up better brand value."

As one of the first entrepreneurs in China following the nation's opening up and reform, Li witnessed the changes in China along with his own company's ups and downs. From a technician to a corporate leader, from leading in the domestic market to expanding overseas, Li is grateful for the times that helped open up China.

LI DONGSHENG CHAIRMAN & CEO, TCL "I'm grateful that the opening-up has brought chances to the people of my generation, to be able to succeed in various fields. It has also helped me achieve my dreams, and amass wealth."

China will continue to reform and open up, which experts say has benefited Chinese enterprises and helped them step onto the global stage. For Li Dongsheng, the only way for an enterprise to enjoy sustainable development is to go out, especially under the backdrop of opening up and globalization. He says it is his responsibility, along with that of other Chinese entrepreneurs of his generation, to seek a higher status for Chinese enterprises in the global market.