On February 9, the annual meeting of Cedar Holdings Group was held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Guangzhou. At the meeting, Mr. King Cheung, Chairman of the Board of Cedar Holdings, delivered an important speech entitled “We Are Closer Than Ever to Our Mission”. He said that 2017 marked a key milestone in the history of Cedar Holdings, as the company was poised for future growth based on our previous success. As the top-ranking private enterprise in Guangzhou, Cedar Holdings is closer than ever to achieving our dream of becoming a world-class enterprise, thanks to the culture and strategy we have shaped and the potential we have pooled over the year. We’d like to publish this important speech in two parts to give you a clearer picture of Cedar Holdings and King Cheung’s vision for the company. The first part was published yesterday, and now here is the second part.

Stay True to Our Original Aspiration & Stay on the Right Course

In this ever-changing new era, what remains unchanged? It is our cultural beliefs and our commitment to industrial development.

The success of a business is fundamentally the success of its culture. Culture determines whether a business succeeds or fails. Cedar Holdings was born to create value, and culture is at the heart of the value we create.

The New Year speech “Springtime for Self-driven Entrepreneurs” (delivered at the beginning of last year) provides a systematic summary of the Cedar Holdings culture. The annual upgrade of the Cedar Holdings Culture Framework (revised in mid-2017) incorporates new situations and new challenges for Cedar Holdings’ development. The newly issued Cedar Holdings Basic Law fully integrates the company’s culture and model, acting as the basic guidelines of Cedar Holdings’ cultural values and management. All of these have laid the foundation for our culture.

Last year, we carried out a corporate culture campaign around the theme of “Integration and Execution”. I stick to the theme this year. As a rapidly-growing company, every day we welcome talents from different places to join the Cedar Holdings family, but they have different professional backgrounds, careers, and life experiences, so what should we do to enable people to recognize and share our culture? The answer is a two-step process: first, integrate the Cedar Holdings culture; and second, work with a high level of execution to create the future together.

One of the priorities of the culture campaign this year is to learn our Cedar Holdings Basic Law well. Here, I want to say a few things about Cedar Holdings Basic Law. What is it and what goals is it designed to achieve?

First of all, Cedar Holdings Basic Law is a systematic summary of our development experiences, providing basic principles to support our strategic goals.

Cedar Holdings Basic Law is a value system integrating top-level design and structural strategic thinking that is designed to guide the development of the entire company. This system covers Cedar Holdings’ cultural values, management principles, and business models.

As the governing law of the company, Cedar Holdings Basic Law can be applied to measure and assess the problems we encounter in the process of development. It defines the basic development principles of Cedar Holdings over a certain period of time, giving us a clear path to walk on and be aware of what we want, what we are doing, and what we should do.

Secondly, Cedar Holdings Basic Law represents the cultural values and commitment we all share.

Cedar Holdings Basic Law provides a systematic interpretation of our common cultural values by fully incorporating the framework of the Cedar Holdings culture. One of its key role is to serve as our common commitment, thereby creating a community of interests that can bring together all of us at Cedar Holdings.

A commitment defines a standard for moral concepts and values that stakeholders truly recognize and observe. For the individual, it can provide emotional support. For the organization, it can unite all employees under common goals and allow us to share a sense of accomplishment and glory, which in turn will enhance our internal cohesion.

Thirdly, Cedar Holdings Basic Law provides strategic principles for industrial development and serves as the ultimate guideline for management decision-making.

Cedar Holdings Basic Law provides ultimate principles for industrial operations and management decision-making from a consistent perspective. It elaborates on a series of major issues in connection with our industrial development and management operations, enabling our decision-making to be more grounded and targeted.

Cedar Holdings Basic Law covers all the principles of Cedar Holdings Model and sets a direction for long-term industrial development and management operations on an overall strategic level. In the future, our business and management model may change, but the primary direction as set out in Cedar Holdings Basic Law will not.

Therefore, you need to understand Cedar Holdings Basic Law to understand Cedar Holdings. This is the fundamental education required for newcomers to blend into the Cedar culture and understand the Cedar Holdings model, and it is also a major tool for all employees to understand what our culture really means and how industries operate. Failure to understand Cedar Holdings Basic Law shows that you haven’t understood Cedar Holdings and suggests that your capabilities and qualifications might not meet Cedar Holdings’ requirements. I want you all to sincerely study and understand the real meaning of Cedar Holdings Basic Law, so that we can truly align our personal values with the cultural values embodied in it, and do business in line with the operation and management rules contained therein.

Ideas are the forerunner of action and beliefs are the cornerstone of success.

Cedar Holdings’ results over the past year are built on our cultural beliefs. This year, we will continue to focus on our cultural beliefs and fulfill our commitment to industrial operations. Here I want to highlight our four fundamental principles of industrial development.

First, entrepreneurship sets the highest standard for industrial operations and corporate management.

As an industry-driven enterprise, we must always bear in mind the concept of “industry first” and respect industry rules without blind worship of capital or empty talk of value. Nothing is more worthy of our pursuit than entrepreneurship.

Second, focus leads us to success.

We must maintain a strategic focus on each area where we gain a foothold, strive to improve our industrial operation capabilities, and advance the implementation of our innovative business model.

We should always act prudently while avoiding overconfidence and intellectual superiority. We will not enter a new field unless we have done adequate research and experimentation and identified opportunities for redefining industrial value. We must ensure that we never go against industry rules as we strive to work hard and make rapid progress.

It is imperative for us to implement the 3-2-1 strategy. Specifically, we plan to need three years to study new industries, two years to experiment with pilot plans, and, if we decide to advance into a specific industry based on our evaluation and experimentation, we will need one year to achieve initial success and become one of the top three players in the industry. If we cannot achieve this, we should withdraw immediately.

Third, we explore industries in depth through rapid expansion.

Our aim is to achieve and sustain a higher growth rate than the industry average and our major competitors, while gaining the upper hand in scale and competitiveness through rapid expansion. This will put us in a favorable position to explore industries in depth.

To achieve a rapid initial success, we must focus on our strong nail strategy. That is, we need to mobilize and leverage the limited superior resources across the group and outperform our key competitors in terms of resource allocation, in an attempt to achieve key breakthroughs. Think about this: why can a nail pierce an iron sheet? It is because all the pressure is concentrated on one point, making the nail unstoppable.

Fourth, we enhance the awareness of coordinated development through partnerships.

We should be ambitious and determined enough to dominate each industry in which we operate, while underscoring our coordinated development strategy through partnerships. It is important to establish extensive, reciprocal, and effective strategic partnerships and explore various forms of external win-win cooperation.

In working with our partners, sometimes “vertical cooperation” is essential, which means we need to remove unnecessary links in the process and focus on our core businesses and key resources. We should find out what works and what does not, and avoid the idea of taking on everything at once.

Sometimes “horizontal connection” is also necessary, which means we need to leverage the superior resources of our partners and unlock our own potential to enhance core competitiveness, ultimately growing bigger and stronger through synergy with our partners.

Ladies and gentlemen, history keeps showing us that development opportunities wait for no men. The external environment is unpredictable challenging. We should remain committed to our strategy and stay alert at all times to make sure that we will not miss these opportunities and always stay on the right course.

Our mission is to help China prosper

This great era put on our shoulder a great mission. We are committed to becoming a company that will be remembered in the new era, so we should strive to live up to our mission.

Our mission is to achieve industrial development for a flourishing China and value creation for a thriving society. Cedar Holdings was born to create value, and we have become meaningful due to our commitment to industry.

When it comes to our mission, we can’t just talk the talk, but must also walk the walk. For an enterprise, how much it fulfill its mission is best reflected through its financial performance. To this end, we set our future strategic goal in 2016.

We must also see through the numbers: not only do they show the business performance of an enterprise, but they also imply that our most fundamental task is to make a difference by putting down roots in industries and creating more value.

We must put down roots in industries and achieve our future strategic goal. This is the approach we take to our mission of helping China prosper through industrial development.

More than one year ago, when we proposed our future strategic goal, some people questioned it and some doubted whether we could achieve it. Today, let’s take a look at this goal again. After reviewing our excellent results and incredible growth rate over the past year, does our goal still seem impossible to reach?

In 2016, we established our industrial structure. In 2017, we consolidated our industrial foundation and poised ourselves for future development with a forward-looking strategy in place. Our six major business segments have either become market leaders or gained marked advantages in niche markets. On this basis, if we focus more on value restructuring and industrial operations, accelerate the innovation and upgrade of business models, and strengthen internal and external partnerships and coordinated development, our existing scale advantage will transform into overall systematic leadership.

More importantly, we have systematically summarized, refined, and upgraded our cultural values, business philosophy, and management methodology while shaping the underlying strategic rules and systems, all of which will provide the core momentum that guides our five-year plan.

Today, our future strategic goal is not just about numbers; rather, it shows us a clear direction towards success. This is a goal that we are absolutely capable of achieving and have to achieve. We are now entering a critical period in which we have to address each and every challenge ahead of us. In any case, we should have faith in a bright future.

It is certain that we will achieve our strategic goal of helping China prosper. This is our mission entrusted by this era. Who is responsible for this mission? Me alone or the management of Cedar Holdings only? We could hardly make it. This is a mission that calls for every one of you in Cedar.

Ladies and gentlemen, you come from different places and different walks of life, and we are very lucky and happy to have you here today. Together we at Cedar Holdings will embark on an exciting journey to embrace this rare opportunity and write a new chapter in Cedar Holdings’ history. Like a ship full of daring explorers, we have set out to navigate China’s real economy. Everyone on board at this point will never regret making this choice. We aspire to create a great company that will be remembered in this great era and we will seek for supports, echoes, and mutual growth during this great journey. All of you here are engaged in creating the great business of Cedar Holdings, and everything you do will leave a lasting footprint on Cedar’s development.

I hope that five, ten, or even twenty years from now, when you look back on today, you will not regret joining Cedar Holdings and spending some of your best years making it a success. Hopefully you will be proud of Cedar Holdings and see your time at Cedar Holdings as one of the highlights of your life.

I am honored by your presence and support throughout this journey, which I hope is a truly rewarding experience for all of you. Historically, at the national level, officers and soldiers who have made exceptional contributions have received the most favorable treatment and the highest respect. Likewise, at the corporate level, entrepreneurs who work hard and collaborate with their fellows are certain to benefit the most from the success of the company.

So, merely talking about lofty ideals without mentioning actual benefits is not responsible at all. At Cedar Holdings, our values are about creation, sharing, and love. We encourage creativity and innovation, and we seek to create an inspiring organization where all the members work together and share the success.

Here I’d like to give three promises:

First of all, Cedar Holdings has always regarded talents as our most valuable asset, so we want to provide the best talents with the most generous returns. We will establish one of the most competitive compensation systems available in the market and keep improving the profit distribution mechanism that can best benefit all employees, so that high-performing employees will be best rewarded.

We will set up a series of incentives system in 2018 to ensure that the pay packages at Cedar Holdings top the respective industries, and even outrank our competitors in the specific industry so that they ultimately hit the highest level across all industries. Our payroll will set the same kind of exemplary record that our business performance does.

Second, we will continue to develop our employees and improve their access to promotion. At Cedar Holdings, we recruit and promote people in an inclusive manner. We do not overemphasize rank or qualifications. Fast promotion always happens. As long as you are talented and ambitious enough, we will offer the most suitable position and platform to unleash your potential.

As Cedar Holdings is expanding at a fast pace, we are set to broaden our industrial landscape, and an increasing number of key positions are open to anyone willing to take a critical role. Our senior executives have the opportunity to display their abilities in key positions, while our middle-level managers and excellent management trainees will be given even more opportunities for promotion and growth. These people make up the “Talented Young Team” of Cedar Holdings and I have high hopes for their success. We all know the old saying that “the best general now was a little soldier years ago”; likewise, most of our future core managers ought to be trained within the organization, and I believe that over time, all of you will grow to become those managers.

Third, we will roll out a dynamic partnership system and a stock option incentive mechanism, under which our key employees and outstanding contributors will gain access to the company’s equity.

In short, Cedar Holdings will share our success with all employees on the road ahead as we walk together through thick and thin.

Ladies and gentlemen, today’s success is just a prologue to tomorrow.

At this festive moment when the 2018 Lunar New Year is around the corner, we want to thank everyone at Cedar Holdings for your sincerity, hard work, and dedication. My best wishes for your aspirations, dreams and hopes go to every one of you. Cedar Holdings is happy to have you with us on our journey into the future. Everything beautiful at Cedar Holdings is a result of your efforts. Nothing is more inspiring than the pursuit of dreams, and we rely on all of you to pursue Cedar Holdings’ dream. We value what you can offer for Cedar Holdings and we will protect every extraordinary dream. Let’s work together to pursue our dreams.

We are also grateful for what Cedar Holdings has achieved over the past two decades. Like a canoe that has traveled through valley streams and small rivers to finally reach the ocean, after twenty years of chasing dreams, we now have grown into a robust company and we are getting ready for an incredible future. In our twenties, Cedar Holdings will continue this journey in the spring of 2018. We have put our past achievements behind us and we are well positioned to make a difference in the new era. Like all the other great businesses that keep pushing forward to achieve renewed success, over the past two decades we at Cedar Holdings have captured the opportunities offered by reform and opening-up, and we will continue to be committed to playing our role in this great new era.

In the coming year, all of us are expected to contribute our own part to the great mission of Cedar Holdings. We are thrilled to embrace this new era of enormous potential and unprecedented opportunities. Looking ahead, we may have to go through numerous difficulties and address severe challenges, but we are more confident and excited than ever about our dream for the future and the great mission we are eager to fulfill. We believe in our inspiring dream and our bright prospects. What we have worked hard on in the past will lead us to a bright future in which our great dream will turn into a reality.

Dear colleagues, happiness is impossible without hard work, so let’s go all out and strive for the happiness of Cedar Holdings and everyone in the Cedar Holdings family!

Finally, I wish all of you and your families a happy and healthy New Year.