Economic Observer｜Dong Mingzhu’s “spy theory” is frightening

When some first-class entrepreneurs begin to speak of “capitalists” and “spies,” filled with non-market rhetoric, and even attempt to seize the high ground of public opinion through moral coercion, what is reflected behind it is the deep-seated contradictions and anxieties faced by the current corporate development environment.

Author: Chen Bai

Cover photo: Tuchong Creative

“Never use returnees, only cultivate our own talents in domestic universities” “There are spies among the returnees, I don’t know who is who is not” – This is the statement recently exposed by Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Appliances.

This statement originated from the temporary shareholders meeting of Gree Electric Appliances held on April 22. At the meeting, Dong Mingzhu was successfully elected as a new director and was re-elected as the chairman of Gree Electric Appliances, starting her fifth three-year term as the head of Gree Electric Appliances. In response to questions about how to promote the rejuvenation of the management team, Dong Mingzhu surprisingly said such a “talent theory.”

Despite the high walls of trade in recent years, China’s determination to open up to the outside world has never changed. In the field of “core technology” that Gree focuses on, China is also constantly integrating into the global innovation network and deeply participating in global technology governance. It is hard to imagine that today, when globalization is so high, the head of a well-known Chinese technology company would set such standards in the selection of corporate talents.

In recent years, local governments have launched policies such as the “Overseas High-Level Talent Introduction Program,” aiming to attract top talents from around the world to help industrial upgrading. In order to attract overseas talents, local governments often set high salaries and housing subsidies, and projects such as Shenzhen’s “Peacock Plan” and Shanghai’s “Pujiang Talent Program” have become brands and have a certain reputation among overseas talents. “Gathering talents from all over the world and using them” has long been a consensus.

In the face of the current situation where local governments are starting a talent war, it is really puzzling that well-known entrepreneurs hold such unfounded hostility towards overseas returnees. Not to mention what those overseas university graduates who are about to return to China after studying abroad will think when they hear such words, those academic leaders in various fields who chose to return to China early will probably feel disheartened by the lack of trust.

For this reason, beyond the incomprehension, Dong Mingzhu’s “spy theory” is frightening. Simply simplifying talent selection into a binary opposition of “local” and “returnees” is essentially intentionally creating social division. When such a behavior of tearing public emotions occurs on the head of a state-owned enterprise, it may trigger a “chilling effect” in China, and it may also make people abroad doubt China’s determination to “open up its doors wider and wider.”

Looking back at the industrial level, as we all know, the first element of technological innovation is talent. According to the data disclosed by Zhaopin, in 2024, 78% of job seekers who have returned from overseas have a master’s degree or above, and they are mostly concentrated in strategic emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and biomedicine. Dong Mingzhu’s remarks are not only destroying the social consensus on the value of diversified talents, but may even lead us to lose key opportunities and windows for future cutting-edge industrial innovation.

Compared to the impact on the macro and industrial levels, it is no longer so important that Gree Company loses more development and innovation opportunities in the future due to such a talent policy.

We cannot deny the value of Dong Mingzhu’s emphasis on cultivating local talents, but whether a company and its head hold an open and inclusive attitude towards talents, or pre-assume “guilty until proven innocent,” the attractiveness to job seekers is completely different. If they are in an environment of suspicion for a long time, the trust between employees will only continue to decrease, because everyone may be a potential source of information leakage or a “spy.” This atmosphere of distrust is not conducive to stimulating team spirit and innovative thinking.

Since the beginning of this year, many entrepreneurs who should have firmly stood on the market side seem to be more keen on non-market discourse systems, showing some anti-market closed and conservative attitudes.

When some first-class entrepreneurs begin to speak of “capitalists” and “spies,” filled with non-market rhetoric, and even attempt to seize the high ground of public opinion through moral coercion, what is reflected behind it is the deep-seated contradictions and anxieties faced by the current corporate development environment. Facing the traffic, enterprises are prone to fall into the public opinion trap of black and white. But using “labeling” to counter “labeling” will instead exacerbate the tearing of the public opinion field, and ultimately affect the normal business ecology.

In business, speak of business, which is also the best protection for entrepreneurs. From this perspective, it is time to call on entrepreneurs to return to the market as soon as possible.