On April 14, 2023, a delegation led by Chairman Wang Tie, and Co-President Chen Han from General Water Technology (GWT) visited Meijing for exchanges. Mr. Zhang Huachun, General Manager, Ms. Deng Xijun, Director of Operation Management Center, Mr. Zhang Yizhou, Executive General Manager of Shu Shi Mall, and other leaders from Meijing Group met with the guests with hospitality and accompanied them to visit an exclusive store of Meijing Comfortable Home and an outlet of Comfortable Home Smart Water Appliance.

Store visit

This was the second time that Mr. Wang had visited Meijing. "What impressed me most last time was that Meijing got a good lead in the industry in IOT intelligent solutions."

Although it was the first time to meet General Manager Zhang offline, Mr. Wang had long known and appreciated Zhang because of their friend in common: Mr. Xie Xintian, China Zone President of BDR THERMEA GROUP. On the day of the meeting, the two men felt like old friends because they thought alike.

Speaking of the original cooperation serendipity between the two sides, Mr. Wang said that GWT is committed to providing healthy and safe high-quality water for every consumer. The company not only drives long-term development with innovative technology but also attaches great importance to customer service. This is highly consistent with Meijing's mission of "making life more comfortable through technology" and business philosophy of "premium and innovative".

It is reported that GWT and Meijing officially reached strategic cooperation in 2020 to jointly develop the water purification market in the southwestern regions of China. The two sides gave detailed introductions to their respective cooperation and development status in recent years and discussed matters about deepening cooperation in this meeting.

Mr. Wang Tie, Chairman of GWT, gives a speech

GWT is a global operator of GE, an American century-old brand, in the commercial and household water purification industry. Holding core water purification technologies such as "G+ charged nanofiltration technology" and the inventive concept of "WaaS (water as service)", the company is devoted to providing safe and healthy water drinking and water use solutions.

On the same day, Mr. Wang was interviewed by Meijing Magazine on the friendly cooperation between GWT and Meijing:

Mr. Wang is interviewed

Q1: GWT, though inheriting the gene of century-old GE (General Electric Company), is a relatively young company. How was the company impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Mr. Wang: Of course, the pandemic has a far-reaching impact on any company in the world, but I think the impact is not necessarily negative. First of all, GE is indeed a world-renowned century-old brand. It established trade relations with China long before. All of GE's businesses are currently operated in China, covering aviation, energy, medicine, and other fields. Coincidentally, GE's logo looks very similar to the Chinese character for "dragon". What a coincidental knot! Anyway, GE is well-popularized among Chinese users, so our water purification brand entered the Chinese market with a high profile and great influence.

In addition, I think one positive impact of the pandemic is that we were pushed to more concentrate on our products and services. Before the pandemic, it was difficult to implement a long-term plan due to various uncertainties. During the pandemic, however, we were pushed to lay a solid foundation. Our team is now fully prepared and confident to become the best one in the industry in terms of products, services, channels, and more aspects.

In this process, we are very grateful to partners such as Meijing for giving us the greatest support and making us the fastest-growing brand in the water purification industry. In general, the pandemic is both challenging and opportunity-giving.

Q2: What do you think of the trend and opportunity in the water purification industry in the post-pandemic era?

Mr. Wang: The pandemic made consumers pay more attention to health. This is especially driven by a demand for timely and healthy drinking water while quarantined at home. So we believe the trend of the water purification industry should be "a health-oriented consumption upgrade". The demand for water purification equipment and equipment upgrades will be greater.

Q3: In addition to the core advantage brought by technology, the "WAAS (Water as Service)" concept and model is your moat. What are the user consideration and business logic behind "WAAS"?

Mr. Wang: In essence, buying water purification equipment is buying drinking water solutions. Besides, for commercial use, we want cost-effectiveness, plastic reduction, and emission reduction; for household use, we want a health guarantee.

The biggest difference between water purification equipment and ordinary home appliances is that the former has a strong service attribute, in terms of early-stage installation, subsequent replacement of filter elements, water quality monitoring, equipment maintenance, and iteration. The service attribute determines the differentiation between brands. This is highly consistent with Meijing's emphasis on efficiency, pursuit of professionalism, and customization of quality services.

We believe differentiation enables customers to experience the added value of products brought by high-quality services, and responds to their appeal for real full-scenario water purification. That is why we emphasize "WAAS" so much.

Q4: In which aspects will you deepen cooperation with Meijing next? What are your expectations?

Mr. Wang: The cooperation between GWT and Meijing in the whole southwest region has gone on very smoothly, and considerable achievements have been made. GWT has become Meijing's main partner in water purification product solutions, especially overall solutions to whole-house water purification.

We have always hoped to provide customers with high-value services throughout the life cycle. From this perspective, intelligent solutions are of great practical significance. GWT applies the G+ smart platform and will upgrade the networking mode this year to enhance product connectivity. Meijing is leading the industry in IoT. So, both sides are looking forward to deepening cooperation on intelligence apart from channel expansion.

Q5: As far as I know, you are an endurance sports enthusiast. Is this the result of deliberate training or personality? Meijing Group will soon hold the 12th Meijing Games, which brought up a widely discussed topic: What do sports mean to you? What do you think, Mr. Wang?

Mr. Wang: Yes, I have been doing long-distance running for more than 20 years. In recent years, I have started to practice "triathlon", almost every day. For me, exercise has become part of my life and part of my personality.

Besides, exercise is very inspirational for doing business. It has supported my career over the years. Most lovers of sports and exercise share one common characteristic: positive and optimistic. It is very important to be optimistic about challenges, whether it is entrepreneurship or work! Endurance sports can build up your will. For example, the most difficult part of long-distance running is the last three kilometers, which we call "wall hitting". It takes a strong will to break through this "extremity". This quality is also very useful for daily work and life.

A group photo of senior executives of GWT and Meijing