In order to boost the economy and improve the industrial system, Naberezhnye Chelny strove to attract investment. Around the same time, the Haier Group in China was scouting for suitable investment opportunities overseas.

Their pursuits coincided and in 2015, after several rounds of negotiations, Haier decided to invest in the Kama Industrial Park (KIP) “Master” in Naberezhnye Chelny to build Haier Russia’s new refrigerator factory.

A production workshop at Haier Russia’s refrigerator factory

As you walk through the gate of the industrial park, a modern, spacious factory with white walls greets you. A sun-dappled flagpole stands erect in front of the gate towers.

“This is great! I had thought I would never see this sight again,” exclaimed an old man with a lined face as he walked into the factory leaning on his cane, accompanied by his son. There were tears of excitement in his eyes.

The man, Konstantin Viktor Petrovich, had been a construction worker when the industrial park was being built years ago and had witnessed its rise and its period of crisis. He had been returning to the park again and again, hoping to see the place booming once more. However, every time he came in hope, he had to go back in disappointment.

A modern production line at Haier Russia’s refrigerator factory

But this time, watching his son busy working in the park he had helped to build, Petrovich was joyous and deeply touched.

The Haier factory has created more than 800 jobs and attracted many supporting suppliers to settle in the park.

For Petrovich, the glories for his generation are continued at the Haier Russia refrigerator factory and he thinks the future of Naberezhnye Chelny’s new generations will be even brighter.

But no reconstruction or transformation comes easily. After the factory began to operate in Naberezhnye Chelny, although the local government was supportive, the local enterprises and people were full of concerns at the beginning.

“They want to bring back here the outdated production lines that have been scrapped in China.” This was the prevalent sentiment, especially among some elderly people who had never been to China.

A nearby refrigerator company, a well-established local factory with strong capital, also suffered from angst. Rumors were rife in its workshop and office that Haier would grab their factory’s market, resulting in their pays being slashed or even some people being laid off, and everyone was worried.

It was not just the ordinary employees who were worried. The general manager was also gravely concerned about the emergence of a future strong rival – how Haier’s refrigerators were positioned and how advanced its production technologies were. These vexing questions gave them a lot of headaches.

Haier refrigerators ready to be shipped

When in doubt, it is always better to see for oneself than listen to others. In order to dispel people’s doubts, the Haier authorities thought the best way was to let people see the actual situation for themselves.

So the group decided to invite the president of the republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, to visit their headquarters in Qingdao in China and the local peers in Naberezhnye Chelny were invited to the new refrigerator factory in the industrial park.

The result was that the Russian visitors to both the Qingdao headquarters and the factory in Naberezhnye Chelny were amazed and deeply impressed. They saw how advanced the production technologies were and how Haier’s innovative model combined employees’ work with buyers’ requirements. In addition, the Haier Russia factory’s development plan included introducing the world’s leading refrigerator production line.

With all the facts laid on the table, people’s doubts evaporated.

In April 2016, a lively ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in the factory. President Minnikhanov came to attend it. As the machines began to whir in the tall, bright, modern factory, it could be seen that almost all the operators working on the busy production lines were Russian. Finally, the residents of Naberezhnye Chelny were relieved.

In this way, the “competitors” became Haier’s mutually beneficial and win-win partners overnight. After their visit to the factory, the local companies decided on all-round cooperation with Haier. As a result, they not only shared Haier’s network of machinery parts suppliers but also developed a plan to transform and upgrade their production line with Haier’s help.

In summer, the factory is at its busiest. The workshops are filled with the sound of machines and everyone is so busy that they don’t even have time to take a break and drink water even when they are thirsty.

However, one summer day, Ivan, the financial manager, was not to be found at his desk as usual. Ivan was in hospital, lying on his bed in deep depression. Outside his window, the sky was a brilliant blue but he was in no frame of mind to appreciate it, as he had had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and couldn’t even speak. He lay supine staring at the ceiling and that was all he could do.

As the intravenous fluid from the drip entered his vein drop by drop, in his mind, the thought of the high treatment cost was gnawing at him.

Though Ivan had been working in the factory since it was set up and had a good income, the sudden illness disrupted the tranquil life that he had been accustomed to.

A view of Naberezhnye Chelny’s streets

At the news of Ivan’s illness, the factory management rushed to the hospital. Learning about his financial difficulties, they immediately decided to ask all employees to donate toward his medical costs and visit him on a regular basis.

Love has magical power. With everyone’s help, Ivan has fully recovered today and returned to work. The only change is that he is more committed to the job than before. As he says, he feels bound to work harder and repay the kindness of the management and his colleagues in the factory.

Ivan’s case is not exceptional at the factory.

“All of us feel very much at ease working here. When we have any problems, we know that the factory is there for us as our safe haven,” an employee said.

It is no exaggeration to say that every employee has a unique story about themselves and the factory. The reason is that here people are put first, a concept internalized by the whole management.

In its early days, the factory had a severe shortage of technical staff. To remedy that, it sent the unskilled workers to the Qingdao headquarters for special training at great cost. With regard to production work, the factory rewards employees at all levels who come up with practical innovations and the management pays great attention to face-to-face communication with employees to enhance their sense of participation.

Today, many companies in Naberezhnye Chelny are drawing on Haier’s development philosophy. It has not only enhanced their production and work efficiency, but also cultivated a group of firstclass technical and managerial talents who can work under their own steam.

They are the hope and strength for the future development of Naberezhnye Chelny.

If you have the opportunity to visit Naberezhnye Chelny, don’t be surprised when the locals merrily greet you in Chinese.

A smiling “Здравствыйте” (hello in Russian) will be a better response because it will gain you more smiles and goodwill.

Today, Naberezhnye Chelny has regained its vitality. There are all kinds of small shops mushrooming in the city, the refurbished restaurants are filled to capacity, and you can see many foreigners strolling on the streets.

All this, of course, has a lot to do with Haier.

Haier’s localization has greatly promoted the development of local industries.

Since it began to operate in Naberezhnye Chelny, Haier has brought in 25 local suppliers to produce machinery parts for it and their localization rate is nearly 70 percent today. Besides, Haier has taken the initiative to provide free training to its partner companies to help them improve their production capacity and service so that these companies in the supply chain can adapt and grow together with Haier. With its development and expansion, more and more related companies have followed Haier to Naberezhnye Chelny. They have made investments and set up factories here, which has met the needs for the diversified development of local industries.

Haier’s innovative localization has better satisfied local people’s needs too.

For example, Russians like stews and soups, which take a long time to cook. People usually can’t finish a whole bowl in one go. So they put away the leftover soup together with the bowl in their fridge.

When Haier’s research and development team discovered this habit, it designed a foldable shelf for the locally sold refrigerators to accommodate this habit. In this design, two adjacent small compartments can be adjusted to become one big shelf, large enough to accommodate the bowl of soup. In this way, the problem Russians had been grappling with for a long time – how to fit their bowl of soup in their fridge – has been resolved at last.

In August 2019, the Naberezhnye Chelny Municipal Government decided to name a street near the industrial park after Haier.

It was the best recognition of Haier’s efforts over the years.