First impression

Zhang Zhiguo is one of the few lucky ones who got to know Mengniu dairy founder Niu Gensheng in the early days.

As the assistant of chairman in Mengniu who joined in the company in 2002, Zhang's initial contact with Niu was in 1999 during an interview. He was then a senior reporter from the Inner Mongolia Business Daily.

The two-hour interview is still fresh in Zhang's memory.

Mengniu's first ads, the 300-odd Mengniu billboards that overnight blanketed Huhhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia sparked Zhang's curiosity about the new company and the man behind it. He contacted the company about an interview and soon got the nod.

Zhang says he and other newspaper colleagues at the interview were overwhelmed by the way Niu spoke.

"There were four of us sitting in a less-than-10-sq-m rented room. The room was old and shabby, but Niu quickly grabbed our attention. He was roaring all along, as if he was making a speech in front of 10,000 people in a great hall," Zhang recalls.

More strikingly, "(Niu) showed remarkable insight regarding Mengniu's corporate strategy and management. I believed he was the wisest and most quick-witted entrepreneur I had ever met."

One point touched Zhang most - Niu's persistence in developing a long-term strategy, one perhaps for as much as 100 years from now.

"I believed he can achieve what he dreamt of," Zhang says.

(China Daily 06/09/2008 page12)