Education
In 1986, Wang graduated from Shanghai Television University with a major in economic management in industry.
佳芬 王
In 1986, Wang graduated from Shanghai Television University with a major in economic management in industry.
In 1992, she chose to leave behind the security of a government office job and took over the leadership of the Shanghai Dairy Company, precursor of Bright Dairy. As she made the new move, she claimed firmly, ‘Once I join the enterprise, there is no turning back for me’ (Wang, 2006). She has been the mainstay of the company ever since.
From the start, Wang Jiafen has visited dairy manufacturers in a number of countries and has been determined to carry out reforms in order to make the company competitive in the dairy products market. Her dedication, vision, and hard work made possible the rapid growth of the company. In 1996, the company formed a joint venture with a company in Hong Kong and changed its name to Bright Dairy Co. Ltd. Wang introduced a new slogan for the company: ‘let brightness (bright dairy) shine all over China.’
In 2002, Bright Dairy became a listed company. For many years since 1996 Bright Dairy has been ranked number one in the sales of dairy products such as fresh milk and yogurt, comprehensive market share and profit-making in the dairy market. In 2001, Fortune named Bright Dairy as ‘China’s most admirable joint venture.’ Wang Jiafen was then viewed as the ‘Queen of Dairy Products.’
2003 was an unusual year for Wang and the company. In that year, two newer dairy manufacturing companies, Yili and Mengniu, began to challenge Bright Dairy’s no. 1 position in the dairy market. They soon surpassed Bright Dairy in terms of overall profit-making. In the face of stiff competition, Wang remained determined to continue strengthening and diversifying what had been Bright Dairy’s main selling point – marketing fresh dairy products. Bright Dairy also established more fresh milk production facilities in major cities beyond Bright Dairy’s main market in Southeastern China. Wang Jiafen’s new slogan was aimed to encourage consumers to ‘return to freshness’ as a way of competing with the other two milk manufacturing companies which focus more on producing UHT liquid milk or changwennai.
A native of Shanghai, Wang Jiafen joined millions of young people in China during the Cultural Revolution and left for a farming community in the suburbs of Shanghai in response to Chairman Mao Zedong’s call for urban youths to go to the countryside to re-educate themselves through physical labor. As a result of her outstanding performance on the farm, she was named vice party secretary of the farm in charge of over 20 000 people in 1974. When the Cultural Revolution came to an end, urban youths, including Wang Jiafen, trekked back to the cities.