An Honest Man behind Heroic Spirits

AN EX-REGIMENTAL commander and hero from the defence of the Chinese border, Wu Peng still carries shrapnel in his legs, chest and hands from three combat operations. Today, on his entrepreneurial road as president of the Chengdu Junxing Spirit Industry, signs of his military career are always present. A bullet, cannonball, canteen and even a grenade mould sit on his office desk. Thirty years ago, he used them to defend the country on the front; today, the same elements appear on the packaging of Junxing liquor products – and, you could say, in the way he "defends" and "orders" the company he leads.

Wu led a group of demobilised soldiers, veterans, retired career officers and sergeants to form a "heroic" management team with whom he transformed an old military-owned farm and distillery into the largest distributor of quality bulk alcoholic liquor in China.

How did a hero and military man like you become involved with producing liquor?
In 1984, I was the sergeant major of a lightning squadron in the Laoshan area in Yunnan, when whilst implementing an investigative task, I was crippled and called down from combat duty to act as the head of a military farm, which also had the largest military owned flavoured alcohol factory of which I was also the operation chief. The factory supplied distilled alcoholic beverages to soldiers and sold the excess liquor wholesale to liquor makers. As the factory size continued to grow, output far away exceeded the consumption demand of troops, and producing　high quality liquor base became the plant's main function.

I was not satisfied with selling such quality spirits as raw material to those liquor makers outside Yunnan province, deciding to produce a type of bottled liquor resembling military heroes and to distribute amongst local markets. I devoted myself to researching the military culture and liquor culture, and after years of exploration the idea of "military liquor" became more and more clear.

At a point when the factory operations was running very well, an order came out to ban all military-run enterprises and all factories also went through a system transformation. In 2003, the liquor factory was switched to private ownership, and I led a group of demobilised service men to form Junxing Spirit Industry Company. During this period, however, I had to shelve the military liquor project for years as we stepped into the long entrepreneurial road.

You switched your identity from military man to businessman, from military leadership to entrepreneurship. How difficult was this transformation?
In the beginning of establishment, I had to play multiple roles in the company and handle things in person due to limited headcount and many other matters. It was common for me to stay up and read all kinds of brewing books to look for the best formula. In order to improve production efficiency, I had to visit a number of distilleries for pointers. The average business travel was over 200 days per year to expand our market and convince consumers of the quality of our products. I sometimes even had to spend whole night with customers, and other times I travelled nearly 10,000 kilometres in one month in order to straighten up things like packaging design, bottle shape and also the distribution channel.

The market naturally can be both cruel and fair. I think that key points for any entrepreneur are dedication, participation, and to recognise and grasp opportunities as they come along. When people say that running a business must be hard, I always reply, 'It is nothing when compared to being in the middle of a counterattack.' I am grateful to the military life, which forged patience and persistence in me. The troops gave me so much; I owe all theAir Jordan XXXII