The 9th Annual Entrepreneur Principals' Festival has officially opened!

Jan 5
5 min read

On September 9th, the 9th Annual Entrepreneur Principals' Festival was grandly opened in Shanghai . This festival is specially created for entrepreneur principals. Every year, more than a thousand entrepreneur principals from all walks of life come from home and abroad to share an exclusive feast of friendship, ideas, honors, and graduation.

This year's Entrepreneur Principals' Day, themed "Growth Power Towards Number One ," focuses on the current market and anticipates future growth, with everything centered around "growth power" and aimed at helping entrepreneurs and principals upgrade their growth capabilities, navigate new cycles, and lead new growth.

01

A Feast of Friendship

Leading companies gather to upgrade growth momentum

The Entrepreneur Principal Festival, co-founded by entrepreneur principals and action education , has now reached its 9th edition.

This year's Entrepreneur Principals Festival brought together companies from various industries, including manufacturing, retail, consumer goods, technology, catering, home furnishing, services, and construction. Most of the participating companies are industry leaders or influential enterprises in their respective niche sectors . Among them are dozens of companies with assets of tens or hundreds of billions of yuan, nearly 200 companies with assets of over one billion yuan, and hundreds of companies with assets of over one hundred million yuan. Business leaders gathered together to enhance growth momentum.

China's economy is undergoing a critical period of transformation and upgrading, with enterprises generally facing competition in a stagnant market and growth under pressure. The 9th Annual Entrepreneur Principals' Festival focuses on new growth drivers in the new era, encouraging various industries to avoid low-level competition models such as price wars, and to build a healthy market environment for sustainable enterprise growth and high-quality economic development.

Mr. Li Jian, Chairman and CEO of Action Education, delivered the opening speech as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 9th Entrepreneur Principals Festival.

Welcome to the 9th Annual Entrepreneur Principals' Festival. Growth is not only a key issue for enterprise development, but also a mission entrusted to us by the times. Today, my topic is "Growth Towards Number One".

To achieve growth towards becoming number one, we have three predictions:

The first prediction is that the growth towards becoming number one will come from AI technology . AI is no longer just a concept, but will profoundly reshape the enterprise ecosystem, from AI intelligent agents to AI-based organizations. AI has become a real accelerator for enterprise growth.

The second prediction is that the growth towards becoming number one will come from organic growth . Organic growth relies on the company's internal resources and independent innovation to achieve sustainable growth.

The third prediction is that the growth towards becoming number one will stem from the essence of management . No matter how times change, the essence of management is to start with the end in mind.

Next, the macro-level analysis, keynote speeches by ten leading entrepreneur-turned-principals, and practical mentorship sessions rooted in business management will all help these entrepreneurs-turned-principals leverage AI technology, benchmark against best practices, revitalize their wisdom, and achieve growth towards becoming number one. We wish you all a fruitful experience.

02

A Feast of Ideas

Three-dimensional anatomical growth, revealing growth potential

Every year, the Entrepreneur Principal Festival will be guided by thematic learning, interpreting the annual theme from three dimensions: macro, meso, and micro. This year, it will also bring together experienced teachers, leading companies, and growth pioneers to jointly analyze "The Growth Power to Become Number One".

Zhu Min, a renowned economist and former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , delivered a keynote speech entitled "Growth Amidst Uncertainty." He provided an in-depth analysis of the profound impact of macroeconomic fluctuations in the international situation on enterprise development, the development advantages of Chinese enterprises in the global competitive environment, and the new structures and drivers of enterprise growth hidden in new trends such as new consumption, new energy, new quality productivity, and new technology in an uncertain market environment.

Renowned strategic positioning expert and global president of Trout & Partners, Deng Delong , delivered a speech titled "How Great Companies Are Made," analyzing the three key elements for a company to sustainably move towards becoming number one: "customer mindset, differentiation, and long-termism," based on the business philosophy of corporate survival.

The "Top Ten Entrepreneurial Principals" of 2025, as pioneering practitioners who have successfully explored growth paths in adversity across various industries, will deliver joint speeches, taking turns to share their core methodologies for achieving growth against the odds, bringing a vivid and typical growth feast to entrepreneurial principals.

Li Jian, Chairman and CEO of Action Education , delivered a presentation on "How to Build an AI-Driven Organization." Using Action Education as a model, he broke down how various modules of an enterprise can be "AI+", achieve human-machine collaboration, and build AI technology into the organization to drive growth.

Macro, meso, and micro perspectives: a three-dimensional analysis of growth potential. The 9th Annual Entrepreneur Principals' Festival offers solutions to help companies achieve growth against the odds and forge the ability to achieve high-quality development towards becoming number one.

03

A Feast of Honor

prestigious awards ceremony, leading the way in growth

During Principals' Day, major annual awards ceremonies were held.

Award ceremony for the 2025 "Industry Leader & Teaching and Research Demonstration Base":

2025

Industry Leader & Teaching and Research Demonstration Base

Bosideng : A world-class leading enterprise in down jackets

Miniso : A world-class IP design and retail leader

Star Gathering : A Leading Enterprise in China's Music Social Space Industry

Haoyuan Chemical : A Leading Enterprise in China's New Chemical Materials Industry

Jinshiyuan : A leading enterprise in China's mid-to-high-end baijiu industry

Dezhuang Group : A leading enterprise in Chongqing hot pot industry in China

Reliable Shares : A leading adult care company in China

Guoguang Agrochemicals : A leading plant growth regulator company in China

Zhang Bingbing Hot Pot Beef Tallow : A Leading Enterprise in China's Hot Pot Beef Tallow Industry

Fuqing Group : A leading Chinese exporter of wood-based panels

The award ceremony for the "Top Ten Entrepreneurial Principals" of 2025:

2025

Top Ten Entrepreneurial Principals

Ouyang Xicong

Chairman of Ounuo Machinery / 43rd issue of "Principal's EMBA"

Deng Feizhou

Chairman of Huigu Technology / 40th issue of "Principal's EMBA"

Wang Zongji

Chairman of Weikang Biotechnology / 66th issue of "Principal's EMBA"

Li Zimin

Chairman of Zhonghui Cultural Tourism / 77th issue of "Principal's EMBA"

Sun Yao

Chairman of Yinyao Furniture / Principal's EMBA Issue 87

Wang Qian

Founder of Yufan Foods / Principal's EMBA Class of 2018

Dou Faliang

Chairman of Kangda Foods / Principal's EMBA Class of 2003

Hu Yuewu

Member of the Party Committee of Jinshiyuan / 71st issue of "President's EMBA"

Hu Bo

Chairman of Shengchen Logistics / 3rd cohort of "Principal's EMBA"

Wang Hui

Chairman of Jinding Construction / 39th issue of "Principal's EMBA"

Among them, Sun Yao, chairman of Yinyao Furniture, won the 2025 "Most Popular Principal" award.

The award ceremony for the 2025 "Top 10 Most Respected Employer Brands":

2025

Top 10 Most Respected and Best Employer Brands

Modern Farming

Huasheng Furniture

Borui Technology

Guirenniao Sports

Kuke Culture

National Treasure Li Du

Baixin Electric Porcelain

Exabytes Group

Miner Energy

Yun'an Conference Center

The award ceremony for the 2025 "Five-Star Class" was held:

2025 "Five-Star Class"

Principal's EMBA Class of 75

Principal's EMBA Class of '77

President's EMBA Class of 1981

With this, the first half of the 9th Annual Entrepreneur Principals' Festival has come to a successful conclusion.

On this day, the entrepreneur-principal gained insights into macroeconomic growth trends, mesoeconomic growth drivers, and microeconomic growth paths .

Tomorrow, the intellectual feast, the camaraderie, the honor ceremony, and the graduation ceremony will continue. Stay tuned.