“Exploring New Models, Achieving New Growth”—Youfa Group’s 9th Terminal Exchange and Training Conference Concludes Successfully.

The conference kicked off with a brilliant analogy by Kong Degang, Director of the Marketing Management Center at Youfa Group, who compared the steel pipe market to the vegetable market in terms of their shared hardships. The atmosphere at the venue was both enthusiastic and pragmatic, with a vibrant interplay of intellectual exchange and experience sharing.

At the meeting, Liu Encai, a partner at the China Soft Power Research Center and a “long-time friend” of Youfa Group, delivered a speech titled “Exploring New Models for Achieving New Growth.” Drawing on nine key trends in the development of steel pipe distributors, he provided a detailed analysis of the current industry landscape and outlined promising directions for future breakthroughs for the Youfa partners attending the training and exchange session. In his view, today the number of competing brands in regional markets within the steel pipe industry is declining, while competition among steel traders is intensifying, leading to a significant overall reduction in their numbers. To sustain growth, distributors must learn to “walk on two legs”—relying on wholesale sales to boost volume and focusing on generating profits at the retail end. At the same time, they need to break down category boundaries, continuously expand into new niche segments, and accelerate their transformation from mere traders into service providers by embracing a one-stop-service approach.

During the subsequent experience-sharing session, after gaining a clear and intuitive understanding of Hanxin Steel’s prefabrication plant, warehousing and distribution center, ductwork factory, and more through an engaging video presentation, Hu Wentao, General Manager of Hanxin Steel (Dongguan) Co., Ltd., delivered an insightful sharing on Hanxin’s practical experiences in prefabrication services. Hu Wentao stated that the combination of product supply and processing services represents the ultimate model for steel trading at this stage. To this end, Hanxin Steel has seized upon changing market opportunities, upgrading from a traditional pipe supplier to a comprehensive pipe products service provider. By offering prefabrication services for pipes, Hanxin creates multi-dimensional value for its customers.

Subsequently, Chen Yanshui, Vice President of Guangdong HuanYu Holding Group Co., Ltd., and Huang Wen, Chief Operating Officer of Youfa Institute for Hydraulic Pipeline Application Research, each shared insightful case studies based on their own practical experiences.

Chen Yanshui is focusing intently on “deep industry expertise plus internal management innovation,” actively expanding integrated, deep-processing services across all product categories and striving to transform “steel from cold and lifeless” into something “warm and human.” According to him, Huanyu has currently achieved remarkable results in innovating and expanding the application scenarios of steel pipes in the curtain wall and steel structure industries. Through refined service management, Huanyu can effectively help customers address their key pain points, thereby creating greater value for users compared to traditional projects.

As the Chief Operating Officer of the Water Pipeline Application Research Institute—one of Youfa’s three major industry research institutes—Huang Wen shared his practical experience under the theme “Deeply Cultivating Niche End Markets and Becoming a Pipeline Expert in the Water Industry.” In his view, to achieve new growth, companies must learn how to shift from the “red ocean” to the “blue ocean” and become the market leader in their niche segments. To this end, the Water Pipeline Application Research Institute has adopted a multi-dimensional approach—from dissecting the industry and studying application scenarios in the water sector along with their respective characteristic requirements—to developing tailored products and service solutions based on these scenarios, and cultivating a robust industry ecosystem. By optimizing both product structure and personnel composition, the institute strives to become an indispensable “pipeline expert” in its specialized market segment within the water industry.

Real-life case studies and practical tips resonated deeply with the entire audience, and the interactive exchange session was met with continuous applause. To reinforce learning outcomes, this training session continued the tradition of in-class quizzes from previous sessions. Partners who attended the training put their insights and learnings into practice through online assessment tests, engaging in brainstorming sessions as they pondered and answered questions.

Zhang Guangzhi, Deputy General Manager of Marketing at Youfa Group, also shared his views on marketing management models with the partners who came to attend this training and exchange meeting. In his view, the marketing model is the business logic that enables a company to achieve its goals. It can be categorized into various models, including those based on customer relationships, market-driven approaches, solution-based strategies, value proposition, technology empowerment, and collaborative efforts across industrial chains as well as ecosystem building.

In his view, steel pipe industry enterprises can take the steel pipe itself as their core physical foundation and build a “steel structure scenario solution platform.” Through various approaches—including upstream integration, horizontal collaboration, and downstream expansion—they can transform themselves into system integrators that provide scenario-specific solutions.

He emphasized that Youfa Group has always advocated the principle of “staying true to our core business while embracing transformation without changing industries.” Youfa Group remains firmly customer-driven: shifting from competing solely on price to focusing on service delivery, and moving from simply selling products to creating value. In an industry characterized by intense competition, we choose to elevate ourselves instead, thereby delivering greater value to our users.

He encouraged the partners who came to participate in the exchange and training program to put the new models they learned in the “classroom” into practical use and fully implement them in their future work.

Finally, Chen Guangling, General Manager of Youfa Group, presented certificates of excellence and carefully prepared copies of the book “The Coldest Winter” to the 30 outstanding participants of this exchange and training session, encouraging our partners to build confidence in overcoming the industry’s harsh challenges and achieving leapfrog development that transcends economic cycles. The entire training and exchange event came to a successful close amid an atmosphere of enthusiastic celebration.

In the future, Youfa Group will continue to uphold its mission of “empowering employees’ happy growth and promoting the healthy development of the industry.” We will actively integrate internal and external resources, organize various forms of exchange and training sessions, and guide our partners to proactively upgrade and transform, embrace the changes of the times, achieve leaps in value, and inject powerful “Youfa momentum” into the high-quality development of the steel pipe industry.