To commemorate the 20th

    anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s tour of South China, Shenzhen Daily will offer readers special stories about people who became

    successful after being influenced by Deng

    Xiaoping’s speeches during the tour in 1992. The speeches stressed the importance of economic reform.

    Wang Yuanyuan

    LI SHUIBAO was a village boy who came to Shenzhen on a whim.

    “I am not the kind of person who is happy to have a quiet life. I want to try everything and do not fear failure,” said Li, a native of Jiangxi Province.

    Li came to Shenzhen after hearing of Deng Xiaoping’s speech in 1992. “It inspired me to do something with my life, for my family and my dream,” he said.

    After 20 years of hard work, Li, the former security guard at a small factory in Bao’an District, is now a successful entrepreneur, winning the title of “King of Moulds.”

    “Everybody should follow their dream. Hard work is all one needs to be successful,” he said.     

    Overcoming adversity

    Li’s first impression of the city was from a popular TV drama, “Migrant Women Workers.” The drama, the first about migrant workers in China, was a big hit in the early 1990s, attracting millions of young people to migrate to Guangdong Province.

    “This drama influences me to this day. It completely changed my mind, broadened my world-view and taught me how to realize my dreams through courage, passion and hard work,” he said.

    In 1992, Li, an ice-cream vendor, and his wife decided to try their luck in Shenzhen.

    “We stayed with a friend who worked in a factory the first night, but police assistants suddenly started checking. At that time, people without temporary residence permits would be sent home, so we had to jump out of the window and hide on a hill which was covered in tombs,” he said.

    Li and his wife spent their first night on the hill and continued living there for weeks because they were afraid of being caught.

    “I was depressed and thought about returning home, but I was still in love with the city,” he said.

    A few weeks later, Li found a job at a hardware factory, earning 260 yuan (US$41) a month as a security guard. His wife also found a job at a nearby factory.

    Gradually, Li found that developing a discipline was the only way to change his destiny. “I was 28 years old, but I followed those technical workers like a child to learn from them. I bought a lot of books to learn about mould making and finally became an apprentice at the factory,” he said.

    To make his employer happy, he worked overtime and took responsibility for all cleaning. “It was tiring. I had to work more than 12 hours a day and spent at least three hours reading after work,” he said. But his hard work paid off. Within a year, he became the factory’s top technician, earning more than 2,000 yuan a month.   

    Starting a business

    As he grew more experienced, Li found that starting his own business was the best way to achieve success.

    In 1996, he and a friend bought a cutting machine and jointly started their own production line.

    “I was afraid of losing my stable income, so I still worked at the factory during the day. It was tiring and I lost 10 kilograms in a few months, so my wife suggested I close the business,” he said.

    Although his first attempt came to an end after six months, he had earned more than 40,000 yuan.

    When he returned to the factory, he asked to be a salesman and to be given the status of independent contractor. “I did not get a basic salary. I just found clients and got orders myself and gave them to the factory for production,” he said.

    “Being a salesman was hard. I was rejected by countless companies and clients and I had to borrow a lot of money to stay afloat, but I built my client connections,” he said.

    In 1997, he spent all his savings on a second-hand Japanese cutting machine and finally opened his own factory.

    After only a few years, his company became the leading factory in the mould manufacturing industry.   

    Setting an example

    Li is now president of Zhongxinbao Group, which invests in commercial estate development and operation, industrial base management and investment, tourism development, hotel management, logistics and manufacturing.

    “During the past 20 years, I have seen too many young migrant workers who are hungry for success but don’t know how to achieve it. I wrote a book with an accompanying video about my experience and thoughts on success and distributed them for free,” he said.

    “I had bad health back then. Li often applied to work overnight so that he could sell ice-cream during the daytime, making some extra money to buy food. He also tried hard to build a good relationship with the chef at the factory, begging him to give some leftovers. When I heard about that, we cried together for hours. That was the hardest time for us, but he was always full of passion for life and work,” Li’s wife, who refused to be identified, said.

    In Li’s opinion, the most important thing is persistence. “Life is hard, particularly for migrant workers. But as long as you follow your dream and never give up even in your darkest time, you will see the light eventually,” he said.