Liang Haishan

Liang Haishan formerly served as chairman of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. On March 30, 2021, in his capacity as chairman, he signed Haier Smart Home’s 2020 letter to shareholders, in which he reviewed the company’s operating results and strategic initiatives in 2020 and set out its future direction of development.

According to the letter to shareholders, Haier Smart Home’s 2020 results reached a record high: net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent for the full year was RMB 8.88 billion, operating cash flow was RMB 17.6 billion, and sales revenue was RMB 209.7 billion. In the same year, the company completed its H-share listing on the Main Board in Hong Kong (6690.HK) and simultaneously privatised its subsidiary Haier Electronics, creating an integrated listing platform to combine both sides’ talent, capital, network resources and technology. Liang Haishan said in the letter that the newly listed platform had formed a more diversified board of directors and would accelerate the realisation of synergies.

On the business side, Liang Haishan stated in the letter that Haier Smart Home’s overseas revenue in 2020 grew 8.3% year on year, exceeding RMB 100 billion for the first time; in the United States, the company ranked first by market share in kitchen appliances, household air conditioners and top-loading washing machines, and it also ranked first in freezers and large and medium-sized refrigerators in Japan and in washing machines in Australia and New Zealand. Its premium brand Casarte continued to rank first in China’s market segments for refrigerators and washing machines priced above RMB 10,000 and air conditioners priced above RMB 15,000, and its kitchen appliance revenue grew 79%. The company also launched Three-Winged Bird scenario brand stores and pursued a digital transformation in three areas: digital user experience, digital operating processes and innovation in digital support models.

On social responsibility, the letter recorded that in early 2021 Haier Smart Home was again named one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune magazine, one of only five companies from mainland China on the list; in March 2021, the company set up a dedicated ESG committee. The letter also mentioned that when the COVID-19 epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Haier Smart Home immediately donated refrigerators, water heaters and water purifiers, and formed a service team of more than 200 people to provide delivery and installation for designated hospitals; in the United States, nearly 1,000 GEA managers went to the production front line to help, contributing a total of 150,000 hours free of charge, and GEA’s output in 2020 rose 10% year on year, with growth reaching 20% in the second half of the year.

In the letter, Liang Haishan set out three directions for value creation over the next three years: strengthening the competitiveness of the international business and comprehensively raising the profitability of overseas operations; carrying out a digital transformation centred on experience and connecting with users through scenarios, to improve operating efficiency; and, with innovative design and Internet of Things technology as breakthrough points, adhering to a high-end-led strategy to drive higher profitability across all product categories. In another text published in his name as chairman, he said that the established strategic steps for 2022 would continue to be implemented firmly, and thanked users around the world for their choice and all shareholders for their trust.