During the 40 years of reform and opening up, China's daily chemical industry has "transformed into a world", and many old brands have become "memories of those years". However, the rise of An'an International Group Co., Ltd. is not accidental. They have written a condensed model of the entire industry's reform and opening up, market economy exploration and practice. On the development path of An'an International, we have seen the shadow of many important historical terms.

Originating from a famous quote by philosopher Plato: "No matter when you start, the important thing is not to stop after starting; no matter when you end, the important thing is not to regret after ending." From collective factories to private enterprises, to today's well-known national brands, there are many invisible "not easy" and "not giving 

up" hidden in the simple smile of Chairman Chen Zhigang. The elderly set foot in the daily chemical industry 35 years ago and have not left a single step since then. Along the way, there is more than just "sticking to".

"Industry novices" emerge from the world

The first batch of entrepreneurs in the reform and opening up, some were born in rural fields, some were born in public office, and there is a special group, which we call "Saturday engineers", and Chen Zhigang is one of them. Perhaps having experienced three years of natural disasters and famine since childhood, as well as the era of "cutting off the tail of capitalism", young Chen Zhigang was not willing to work as an ordinary mechanical engineer at the provincial textile machinery factory. In 1985, Chen Zhigang changed jobs. No, he switched careers. As the older generation once said, "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger", and "industry novice" is not afraid of "starting from scratch". Between 1985 and 1987, he went alone to Shanghai Daily Chemical Research Institute to study industry facilitation classes, and built simple factories with his brothers, establishing his own brand.

1996 Group Company Beijing Symposium

In just two years, Chen Zhigang completed his first magnificent transformation in life. He focused his life on the daily chemical industry and worked there for 35 years.

"Thinking of the source when drinking water" is a motto often spoken by Chen Zhigang and his younger brother Chen Zhihao. He recalled, "The policy of reform and opening up gave birth to our generation of private cosmetics enterprises, and it was also the reform and opening up that allowed us to catch up with a good era, which gave us the opportunity to start a business.".

In the pioneering period of local daily chemical enterprises, shortly after starting their own businesses, Chen Zhigang and his brothers worked together to develop An'an acne facial cleanser, lemon whitening facial cleanser, and An'an quick acting explosive demolition spirit, and quickly launched and occupied the market through various department stores. An'an's performance also increases threefold every year, and by the early 1990s, it had once formed an industry influence of "Dabao in the north and An'an in the south". In the words of Chen Zhigang, "That era was the era of entrepreneurship, the most passionate era, and the most magnificent era."

An'an Explosive Demolition Spirit, which was popular in Guangdong and Guangxi at that time

8 years of perseverance, shining a sword at once

Changing careers and starting businesses gave the Chen Zhigang brothers a taste of success, and they had a good accumulation of funds. The brothers were preparing to build a decent office building to further capture the market. However, the first comprehensive collapse of state-owned department store wholesale channels suddenly occurred without any warning. Chen Zhigang recalled, "At that time, the new building had just been topped out, and without any preparation, all the goods from the department store and department store were returned, filling up the construction site of the new building." There was no money to renovate the office building, repay bank loans, pay taxes, and even pay the wages of the workers. Chen Zhigang encountered the first "difficult step" after starting a business.

Faced with this "end of the road", the Chen Zhigang brothers can only hold the mentality of "being a dead horse and a living horse doctor", give it a try. They marked out a piece of land below the company building and built two rows of shops, giving birth to the famous "An'an Market Wholesale". Taking advantage of the advantageous location near the transportation hub, as expected, selling "shop heads" and "setting up street stalls" allowed the Chen Zhigang brothers to successfully win back the city, and also opened up a new sales channel for An'an as a "wholesale market". Afterwards, the An'an brand began to expand its business and was awarded the title of "Top 10 best-selling products in China" in 1994. Chen Zhigang was also awarded the title of "Top 10 Innovative Figures in Chinese Township Enterprises".

The return of sales to the right track finally breathed a sigh of relief for Chen Zhigang. During this process, Chen Zhigang deeply felt that the corporate system with "collective ownership" was a constraint that An An must abandon. So in 1996, Chen Zhigang proposed a plan for enterprise transformation to the township government, and they were also the first township enterprise in Foshan to propose transformation. Little do they know that ideals are abundant, but the road is not easy to follow. Chen Zhigang smiled and said, "The transformation of An An went through 8 years of the 'Anti Japanese War', and it was not until 2003 that An An completed the true transformation. We were the first to propose the transformation, but we were the latest to complete it.".

Group company's early core team photo

The rebirth of a phoenix requires nirvana, while the graceful dance of a butterfly requires breaking through its cocoon. Chen Zhigang and An An, who possess the low-key and steady characteristics of Foshan people, have not disappeared from the daily chemical market where they have been silent for 8 years. At the 2004 China (Shanghai) International Beauty, Makeup and Washing Products Expo, with the appearance of Jolin Tsai as the spokesperson for An'an International Tianshun Shampoo advertisement, An'an launched 60-70 SKUs in one go. Returning to the martial arts world, An An once again stunned everyone's eyes. An An Tian Shun is also known as the biggest dark horse that suddenly emerged in the 2004 Chinese washing and care market.

At that time, industry insiders had conducted research comparing the transformation of An An and the defeat of Guangzhou Green Danlan, and found that the traditional corporate management system seriously lacked feedback on market competition, leading to blind expansion and ultimately burying the once leading brand in the domestic cosmetics industry. And it is correct for Chen Zhigang and An An to persist in the transformation for 8 years!

Innovation is an unchanging belief

Chen Zhigang is clear that without quality assurance, it is difficult to maintain brand survival, and without technological innovation, it cannot drive the development of the company. Starting from the mid-1990s, Chen Zhigang proposed the "Three Highs" principle of "high starting point, high standards, and high quality". "High starting point" refers to aiming at and closely following the forefront of international and domestic industry development, grasping the latest trends in industry development, paying attention to the latest technological achievements in the industry, and thus establishing the overall goal and direction in technological innovation and new product research and development. "High standards" refer to the establishment and improvement of internal control standards in enterprises; Strictly implement departmental and industry standards; Learn, draw on, and apply international standards. Form a benchmark effect through three major standards, and implement standardized management and scientific evaluation of the technological innovation operation process. "High quality", under the important prerequisites of high starting point and high standard, implements strict control over the quality of materials and raw materials, thereby ensuring the high-quality transformation of innovative technologies in practical applications

100000 level GMPC cosmetics production workshop, Japan Meizhihe vacuum emulsification equipment

Therefore, while An'an has always attached great importance to a multi-level and interconnected organizational system for enterprise technological innovation and operational incentive mechanisms, it has also developed "industry university research" alliances with research institutes and higher education institutions to integrate them into the market mechanism that links research and development projects with business benefits.

After entering the new millennium, while fully committed to the overall transformation from traditional circulation channels to terminal supermarket networks, the company also further strengthened the in-depth cooperation in independent research and development and high-tech applications, and jointly built the "Marine Biological Cosmetics Research Base and Industrialization Demonstration Base" with the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Foshan University of Science and Technology, and established the "Academician Workstation", We have an expert R&D team with CAE Member as the core, and our R&D and innovation strength has reached a new level.

Signing ceremony for the settlement of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the production, learning, research and industrialization demonstration base of Foshan University of Science and Technology in An'an International

In 2007, the company was the first in China to launch the "An An Jin Pure Brand Olive essence Series", and built an offline and online three-dimensional omni channel sales network system in the country, with KA and A class terminal systems as the main, BC class supermarket, OTC chain system, CS channel and other physical stores supplemented by e-commerce online shopping. The number of terminal physical stores reached 12580, and the market sales increased year by year, The influence of An'an Jin Pure Olive brand has leapt to the dominant position in the market for similar products.

At the same time, the application technology developed by the company in cooperation with the South China Sea Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the use of scientific research patents of CAE Member in the large-scale production of cosmetics has also made a major breakthrough. The "Yuanhai" high-end skin care brand with marine bioactive peptides as the core technology was launched, which has won unanimous praise from industry and industry experts.

The group company has been certified as a research and development center by Guangdong Province's "Engineering Technology Research Center" qualification

By establishing a technological innovation information consulting network system, An'an International has successively established An'an Skincare Product Research and Development Center and Foshan Fine Chemical New Material Research and Development Center. In 2009, Nanhai Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Foshan University of Science and Technology Research Base, and Marine Biological Cosmetics Industrialization Demonstration Base settled in An'an International, and formally signed a cooperation agreement among the three parties on jointly developing and building a high-end marine skin care national brand "Yuanhai" series of products. The research and development of "Yuanhai" brand products has officially opened the prelude for An'an International to enter the high-end skincare field and build a high-end skincare brand for marine organisms. In 2014, An An International reached brand and technology strategic cooperation agreements with French company Ani Jean and French research institute Marie Pratt, respectively, to ensure the forefront of technological information collection with a higher perspective and keep scientific research technology synchronized with international development.

Mr. Dominic (second from right), an overseas expert from the French Marie Pratt Cosmetics Research Institute, provides guidance at the company's R&D center

In 2011 and 2012, An An International invested in and expanded the industrial park in phases two and three, investing in the construction of a 10000 square meter 100000 level GMPC cosmetics production center building and a 15000 square meter 100000 level GMPC research and production building. The new research and production center has introduced a complete set of Meizhihe vacuum emulsification equipment from Japan. The entire process design adopts the internationally advanced closed pipeline production process of daily chemical enterprises. The cream alone can increase production by nearly 10000 tons per year, and the comprehensive annual production reaches 30000 tons. In 2014, the company raised funds to build a 2000 square meter cosmetics research and development center in Gaoming Industrial Park. The center is equipped with application research laboratories for marine resources, traditional Chinese medicine, herbal plants, and other fields, providing more favorable support for the core functional technology of the company's products.

Over the past 35 years, Chen Zhigang has undergone a significant transformation from a planned economy to a market economy reform, from the era of state-owned department store purchases and sales to the era of large-scale wholesale and distribution, and then to the commercial landscape of the comprehensive rise of supermarkets and terminals today. From entrepreneurship to growth, from development to transformation, from setbacks to success, from a small workshop to a national high-tech enterprise, from a simple farmhouse to a specialized production workshop with a GMPC pharmaceutical standard of 100000 yuan and the first to pass the EU ISO22716 certification and the US GMPC certification. The repeated perseverance, breakthroughs, and leaps have formed Chen Zhigang's entrepreneurial life and also driven An'an International to keep up with the times.

In the face of the future, Chen Zhigang has issued a military order for his successor. An'an International must adhere to the corporate purpose of "seeking truth and pragmatism, innovation and change, promoting enterprise development through science and technology, and stable development", use talent to promote research and development, drive innovation through research and development, and win the market through innovation, and firmly follow the path of "technological innovation" in enterprise development. I believe that in the new round of market competition, An'an International will surely achieve greater development!