Chen Kewei’s entrepreneurial experience

For more than 10 years, against the background of slow economic development in France, Chen's Company has maintained a stable development momentum, with its turnover growing at an annual rate of nearly 5%, exceeding the average growth rate of the French economy during the same period. By 2000, the company's turnover exceeded 1 billion francs.

The Chen brothers' business has been able to develop rapidly mainly because they adhere to the business principles of "thinking about the needs of customers" and "small profits but quick turnover". While mainly serving Asian immigrants, they pay special attention to satisfying the dietary consumption habits of native French people. In order to provide the catering wine needed by French diners, Chen's company specially hired French winemakers to develop a wine suitable for French tastes - "Chinese Night", which was favored by the French. On the occasion of the new century, "Chen Brothers Company" formulated a new development strategy and decided to expand the company's business scope and adjust its investment direction. Since 1990, the company has begun investing in the fields of technology, transportation and media, and has now completed projects such as introducing China Central Television International Channel programs to France and establishing a "luxury" beer production base in Tangshan, Hebei, China. The extraordinary performance of "Chen Brothers Company" has been recognized by French society. In October 1991, the France-China Committee, which aims to promote economic and trade cooperation between France and China, officially admitted it as a member. The committee has more than 100 members, and "Chen Brothers Company" is the first Chinese corporate member since its establishment.

The early days of the business

Chen Kewei’s ancestral home is Dachanglong Village, Puning, and he was born in Laos in 1934. The family relied on the father's small business to survive. In 1952, 17-year-old Chen Kewei couldn't bear to see his father bent over due to overwork just after he turned 40. So he gave up his high school studies, opened a small store, and later started a lumber business, shouldering the burden of the family with his father. His father, Chen Zhongqing, traveled across the ocean to work in Thailand when he was a boy, and then settled in Laos, living off a small business.

Chen Kewei experienced a rough life, but the difficult environment tempered his perseverance and wisdom. In order to find a way out in life, the 17-year-old graduated from high school in more than a year. As the eldest son in the family, although he always ranked among the best in school, he saw that the burden of life was bending his father's back. For the sake of his younger siblings' studies, he decided to drop out of school and start a business career.

At first, Chen Kewei opened a grocery store and worked as both a boss and a clerk. He was responsible for handling, loading and unloading, shipping and delivering goods, and he was the leader inside and outside. The business went smoothly for two years. He then switched to industry and opened a lumber mill. Central Laos is a dense forest that stretches across the country and is rich in timber resources. He went out in the dense forest, felling and sawing wood together with the workers, and slept in the open air. He worked there for 13 years. Then, he opened a rice milling factory, a monosodium glutamate factory, a slipper factory, etc. He said: "All these efforts have not made my many years of hard work in vain." These efforts laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial career when he later lived in France.

In 1975, just as Chen Kewei's career was rising, unexpectedly, the situation suddenly changed and Laos fell into the turmoil of war. He could no longer operate properly on the original basis. He left Laos and entered a beautiful and strange country - France. Because of this, France opened up a broader world for him, and he began a new journey in life. Of course, when he first arrived in Paris, Chen Kewei also felt confused about the new environment and appeared anxious. He wanted to start a business, so he brought the diligent spirit and business talents of overseas Chinese and Chinese to France. He came to the 13th arrondissement in Paris, where most Asians live.

After a year of investigation, they set their sights on the import and wholesale of Chinese and Asian food. One day in June 1976, "Chen Brothers Company" opened on an inconspicuous street in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. It takes two months to ship goods from Asia to Europe. Some goods are no longer needed in the market after they arrive in France. Losing money happens all the time. The two brothers constantly summed up their experience, adopted the method of purchasing small batches and selling as they went, gradually opening up a development path.

Success in later careers

In the late 1970s, a large number of Southeast Asian refugees settled in France, bringing with them Asian culture and Asian food habits, providing the "Chen Brothers Company" with business opportunities. The brothers immediately decided to rapidly expand the company's business scale and business methods, from only wholesale to both wholesale and retail.

On August 15, 1981, Paris's first supermarket specializing in Asian products, Chen's Department Store, officially opened in the 13th arrondissement. Since then, the company's business has developed steadily. By 1987, the company's turnover had reached 270 million francs, and it was included in the ranks of large French commercial enterprises, becoming the first Chinese enterprise to be included in the list of French enterprises.

In the 1970s, the 13th arrondissement of Paris was already known as "China Town", and Chinese shops, especially Chinese restaurants, were everywhere. He found the inspiration to start a business in the "China Domain". In 1976, he and his brother Chen Keguang finally made the decision to create "Chen Brothers Company", specializing in the wholesale of imported food from Asia. This company became the foundation for Chen Kewei to start his own business in France.

The second half of the 1970s. As refugees from Southeast Asia continue to pour into France, more and more Asians gather in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. When Asians come to France, they also bring Asian customs, habits, and culture with them. It also brought their daily needs. For a time, the sales of Asian goods in the 13th arrondissement of Paris surged. Chinese capital is also very prosperous. With the support of friends, Chen Kewei's company adapted to this reality and continued to expand its business area, and its business was extremely prosperous.

By 1981, after several company address moves, he decisively rented a 2,000-square-meter garage in the 13th District and opened the garage as the "Chen's Baidai Shopping Mall" to sell products directly to customers. Promote more than 3,000 kinds of food from Thailand, mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and other places. After the opening of "Chen's Department Store", he was gratified by the constant flow of customers entering and exiting the mall. Several years of hard work and hard work had yielded results, but he did not dare to relax or neglect his career in the slightest. He sought to make the enterprise better. It is this scientific path that has enabled Chen Kewei to achieve an annual turnover of 30% after more than 10 years of struggle. With a straight rise, Chen Kewei and his "Chen Brothers Company" became the first in the French-Chinese business community.

In 2003, under the convening of the China Advancement Association and Chen's Company, nearly a thousand Chinese in France once again came to the Nolet Chinese Workers Cemetery to hold a public memorial service.

Since 1978, Chen's company has invested 7 million francs in purchasing American IBM computer systems. With the support of his brother Chen Keguang, the computerization of accounts, invoices, and paperwork and the use of both French and Chinese were implemented. After the implementation of computerized management, Chen's company's business operations have improved by leaps and bounds, the efficiency has doubled, the information is well-informed, and the management level has entered the advanced ranks of modern enterprises.

In 1991, the company's turnover exceeded 700 million francs, ranking 122nd in the "Dragon and Tiger List" of France's wholesale and import industry, and is recognized as the largest Chinese enterprise in France and Europe.

By 2000, the company's turnover exceeded 1 billion francs. Chen Kewei was ranked 152nd in French business rankings and 359th in various industries in the Greater Paris area by the authoritative French economic magazines "The New Economist" and "Expansion", thus joining the ranks of famous French entrepreneurs.