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CoStone Capital Zhang Wei: Investment, All About Companies and People, not Macro-economy or Industries

2016.12.14 Zhang Wei Views:

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 The 16th China PE Investment Annual Forum, co-hosted by Zero2IPO Group and PE Daily, opened in Beijing from December 6th to 8th in 2016. Over 3000 professionals participated in this Forum. The Forum was ended by the highly expected “Zero2IPO 2016 China PE Investment Annual Lists”: CoStone ranked the 8th on the 2016 Zero2IPO Top 100 China PEVC Institutional Investors; Zhang Wei, the CEO of CoStone was among the “2016 Top 10 Chinese PEVC Investors”.

 The 16th China PE Investment Annual Forum, co-hosted by Zero2IPO Group and PE Daily, opened in Beijing from December 6th to 8th in 2016. Over 3000 professionals participated in this Forum. The Forum was ended by the highly expected “Zero2IPO 2016 China PE Investment Annual Lists”: CoStone ranked the 8th on the 2016 Zero2IPO Top 100 China PEVC Institutional Investors; Zhang Wei, the CEO of CoStone was among the “2016 Top 10 Chinese PEVC Investors”.

 On December 7th, Zhang Wei delivered a keynote speech under the title of “No Pessimistic on the Journey of Investment”.

 “We never resort to the macro-economic prediction. If economists can’t see through it, how could we? Besides, 7% or 1% GDP growth makes no difference in our investment. As to which fields to invest in, every investor knows healthcare, TMT, and consumption services. So, what we should focus on is not an industry but companies. They are not just statistics, they are real. That’s the core question,” said Zhang.

 “CoStone never expects to predict the macro-economy, never tries to adapt a founding team. We don’t rely on changing portfolio companies’ business models and the so-called ‘tailwind’ to make money. We are dedicated to a sophisticated layout in fields that we are familiar with. Companies are like runners in a race. By analyzing their organization models and entrepreneurship, we know who will be the winner,” as Zhang said.

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Rewritten by Chen Cong, Edited by Li Yunzhen, Du Zhixin

The year 2019 marks the fortieth anniversary of China’s Reform &Opening-Up, once again, we meet at the turning point of history. What’s the next step for the game, is there any clear guidance? The answer is affirmative.

Our country is enjoying a good momentum of development, which does not come from the Washington Consensus nor the Beijing Consensus. China’s experience has proved that both the visible hand and the invisible hand are crucial: the visible hand, stands for the government-led reform, and would yield benefits for reform and opening up; the invisible hand, stands for the Marginal Power represented by the private sector, and would improve economic efficiency and tax collection, create jobs and employment opportunities.

Provided that we want to protect and expand the benefits form reform, three simple but mandatory agreements are to be made and followed: No.1 Private ownership must be recognized, protected and treated equally with public ownership constitutionally, both ownerships are scared and inviolable;No.2 Make further clarification of the principal position of market economy, “deepen economic system reform by centering on the decisive role of the market in allocating resources”, as President Xi addressed in the third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee;No.3 Implement the guiding principles of “comprehensively promoting law-based governance” of the fourth plenum. The rule of law is essential for economic growth, irreplaceable to protect private ownership, and necessary to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

Above are three rules for us to avoid falling into the Middle-income Trap. Assuming that we are breaking systematic barriers to private enterprises’ participation in market economy, and boosting innovation and entrepreneurship of our society, then we are heading towards a promoting direction. We are marching in the path of light, regardless of the ups and downs of Sino-US relationship, the drop in GDP growth rate, or the monetary policy.

These principals also apply on knowing how better to run a business: don’t be hedged by rules and regulations at the beginning, pay more attention to your survival, and you’ll learn more when you start your second business.

For many years, Huawei has been the only Chinese company on the list of the Top 50 R&D Spenders. Regardless of the economy and its income, what Huawei has been doing is investing in its future, dedicated to R&D, continuously and resolutely. This provisional work underscores Huawei’s accomplishments, making Huawei anindustry leader.

So, there are standard answers on how to run a company,which could be summarized as concentration and professional dedication, continuous investment on innovation and trying harder in R&D. Entrepreneurship is also important, every single company needs entrepreneurs to push aside all obstacles and difficulties, to implement strategies and ideas. We, as investors, are destined to look for such outstanding entrepreneurs and their companies, invest in them and partner with them.

At this key point of history, a country, a company, or asingle individual, will all need to find the right path. Four decades after the Reform and Opening-up, it’s time to learn from our experience and stop “wadding across

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