Reporter | Song Jianan
On June 30, GREE Electric’s Chairman Dong Mingzhu took the stage at the company’s 2025 Annual General Meeting to tackle tough questions from investors. We’re talking real stuff here: how exports are actually performing, the whirlwind of personnel changes, and where the “Dong Mingzhu Healthy Home” concept stands today. According to reports, this meeting was a sell-out phenomenon—over 400 shareholders showed up in person, with nearly 500 more signing up to attend. It was clear that everyone wanted answers.
When it came down to GREE’s export game this year, Dong didn’t sugarcoat it. She admitted frankly that results haven’t been great. And she wasn’t blaming just bad luck; there were internal reasons too. In her view, GREE’s traditional sales model for overseas markets has hit a wall and needs a serious upgrade to survive in this new phase.
Here’s the big news: Dong confirmed that GREE is about to pull the trigger on a massive transformation of its export model. She believes the potential space for GREE in global markets is still huge—we just need the right strategy to unlock it.
Let’s look at the data. According to Industry Online figures, China’s commercial air conditioning export market hit 26.14 billion yuan in 2025, up 12.7% year-over-year. This growth was driven by surging demand from global data centers, companies rushing to set up shop in emerging markets, and industry-wide upgrades to product performance. The overseas pie is definitely getting bigger.
But here’s the hard truth for GREE. Their 2025 financial report shows foreign revenue dropped 2.93% to 27.375 billion yuan. More concerning? Overseas income only made up 16.06% of total revenue. That makes GREE the only one among the four major white goods giants to post negative growth in overseas business for the full year.
Compare that to the competition, and the gap feels even wider. Midea Group, for instance, raked in 195.948 billion yuan from overseas sales in 2025, a healthy 15.92% jump. Their overseas slice of the total revenue pie now breaks 42%. Not bad, right?
How did they do it? Midea has been aggressive. Over the past few years, they’ve established 29 R&D centers and 43 key manufacturing bases globally, with local operations covering 50 major countries. They also went on a buying spree, acquiring Arbonia, TEKA, Toshiba Elevator’s China business, and Konicaminolta Medical’s international division in 2025 alone.
Interestingly, despite all that expansion, Midea’s Chairman and President, Fang Hongbo, recently told shareholders at their AGM that they wouldn’t be doing any *major* mergers or acquisitions for the next three years. “Don’t let your head get too hot,” he said, emphasizing a focus on steady capital spending rather than reckless deals.
Meanwhile, Haier Smart Home reported 154.545 billion yuan in overseas revenue for 2025, up 8.15%, finally surpassing their domestic numbers. Hisense Household Appliances saw overseas revenue climb to 37.925 billion yuan with a 6.4% export growth rate, building a second growth curve through multi-brand strategies in Europe and Southeast Asia.
So, while GREE’s overseas business is feeling the heat, their internal house has seen some serious shuffling over the last year. When asked why the turnover felt so frequent, Dong gave a straightforward answer: “Why change things so often? It’s about ensuring people can rise or fall based on merit. By navigating between ‘up’ and ‘down’, we help the young team find their place and grow.”
The rotation started back in April 2025 when the board turned over. After 24 years as President, Dong stepped down from daily operations. She handed the reins to Zhang Wei, a leader who grew up within the ranks. This signals a shift: Dong will now focus on the big-picture direction, leaving the nitty-gritty management to others.
Alongside this change, the board appointed several new executives: Vice Presidents Fang Xiangjian, Liu Hua, Li Shaobin, Hu Yusheng, and Wang Kai. Liao Jianxiong took the CFO role, and Zhang Zhouhu became the Board Secretary.
New non-independent directors include Zhang Jun, Shu Lizhi, and Zhong Chengbao. Notably, Zhang Jun represents the interests of GREE’s distributors—he’s the Executive Director and GM of Zhejiang Shengshi Xinxing GREE Trading Co., Ltd., and a shareholder of Jinghai Internet. He’s been a director since 2012.
This board also welcomed two fresh faces: Shu Lizhi, formerly a VP, and Zhong Chengbao, the Chief Engineer and Assistant to the President. Both are making their debut as non-independent director candidates.
Looking at the age profile, the average executive age hovers around 50. The youngest is the post-85s Zhong Chengbao, while the new President, Zhang Wei, is 49. The message is clear: GREE is aiming for a younger, more dynamic leadership core.
Then there’s the “Dong Mingzhu Healthy Home” project. Dong admitted it’s not perfect yet. “I hope everyone gives us a bit more time,” she urged. “We need a process to improve, correct, and elevate.”
She explained the vision: get more people walking through the doors to experience the brand. Right now, chaotic pricing online is a headache. GREE is working hard to balance market share, protect shareholder rights, and maintain their reputation for high-quality, high-tech products. It’s been a lot of cleanup work.
As of March 2026, about 1,500 “Dong Mingzhu Healthy Home” stores have opened nationwide, with a target of 3,000 this year. Non-air conditioning products now account for 42% of sales in these stores.
It’s worth noting that ever since launch, critics have argued the project ties the brand too closely to Dong personally. However, GREE CMO Zhu Lei has pushed back on this narrative. “An organization and its leader are inseparable,” he stated. “The same goes for a company and its entrepreneur; the entrepreneur shapes the company’s personality.”
Zhu emphasized that GREE fully recognizes the value of the name “Dong Mingzhu”—it’s even registered as a trademark. From this angle, Dong can’t simply cash in on the name herself; it belongs entirely to GREE as a corporate asset.
Finally, addressing the burning question on every investor’s mind: dividends. Dong reminded the room that healthy payouts depend on the collective effort of GREE’s 80,000 employees and channel partners. She even joked that if shareholders want dividends, they should buy more than just AC units—switch your other appliances to GREE!
Recalling her comments from the special shareholder meeting last November, Dong added, “I understand the expectation for dividends. But remember, since listing, GREE has raised only 5 billion yuan in capital while paying out over 170 billion yuan in dividends. If you want the horse to run fast, you have to make sure it gets enough grass to eat.”
