June 24, 2025 Commercial Times Tan Shuzhen

Nien Capital Holdings Chairman Chen Feilong. Photo/Our newspaper's archive

Nanchiao Holdings Chairman Chen Fei-lung, who is over 80 years old, confidently stated at the shareholders' meeting in early June that despite the global political and economic turmoil and the US-China trade war, Nanchiao has moved forward every year for 70 years and shareholders need not worry.

Chen Feilong's confidence naturally stems from his over half a century of experience in the business world. However, when speaking of Chen Feilong's business management, one cannot fail to mention Ten Ren's Tea Company. The story of how Ten Ren Tea Company, which was primarily a tea shop back then, chose to open on Hengyang Road in Taipei, the most competitive area for tea, inspired Chen Feilong.

This also led Chen Feilong, who wanted to start a business in mainland China at the time, to decide to conquer Shanghai before venturing into the mainland.

Because, back then, Tian Ren Tea House believed that if they could survive on the fiercely competitive Hengyang Road, they could survive in the world of tea. Similarly, in Shanghai, known as the "ten-mile foreign settlement," Chen Feilong believed that if he could operate and survive in great Shanghai, he could lay the foundation for operating across the entire Chinese mainland.

Learn from inspiration, then innovate.

Of course, imitating others' success stories won't guarantee your own. After Chen Feilong draws inspiration from others' experiences, he still needs to establish his own operational principles.

Chen Feilong's business principle is localization in operations with an international perspective. Taking Shanghai as an example, one must cater to the "pride" of Shanghainese, who have experienced the Bund. Therefore, the emphasis should not only be on production elements, but also on what is unique to Shanghai. This is why when Paulaner entered Shanghai and opened multiple stores, they were all located in Shanghai.

Besides Shanghai, Chen Feilong operates in Thailand and Taipei, both utilizing a macroeconomic international perspective to strengthen local characteristics. Taking Namchow Thailand as an example, Thailand's main agricultural staple is rice. Chen Feilong fully capitalized on this rice-based staple characteristic by using rice as a material to create products similar to potato chips, which were then marketed to the US.

Then it's resold from the US to the Thai market. Since the product was first recognized in the US, when it was subsequently sold in Thailand, it was initially widely perceived as an "imported" good. This strategy is what Chen Feilong emphasizes: operations should be localized or indigenized, but vision should be international.