In January 1988, China’s reform and opening up policy has won support among the people. In particular, the publication of the speeches made by Deng Xiaoping, chief architect of the reform, such as “encouraging some areas and some people to become well-off first and then bring along others so as to achieve common prosperity ultimately” and “l(fā)ooking to the future”, aroused strong emotions in the 26-year-old Chen Jinshi. The rise of the individual economy and the private economy constantly inspired Chen Jinshi, a young man who wanted to do something. He started to raise funds and organized and built a team in response to the call of the times and the arrival of historical opportunities. On Feb. 18, Chen Jinshi led Lu Jianzhong and Song Jianshi to Shandong on the second day of Lunar New Year to discuss business of projects and set up temporary buildings. On Feb. 23, the seventh day of Lunar New Year, a team of 28 people, along with RMB5,000, which was all they had, started off from Changle, Haimen, to Dongying, Shandong, embarking on a hard road to entrepreneurship.

With the publication of Deng Xiaoping’s speech on the southern tour, the state vigorously promoted the pace of reform and opening up, and emerging companies were established one after another. Taking advantage of this historical opportunity, Zhongnan gradually opened up the market and developed its team, entering the rapid development period for the first time, when Chen Jinshi began to seek breakthroughs in the management. In 1993, Zhongnan established 132 rules and regulations for the first time at the staff meeting held in Weihai, marking the company’s exploration and experimentation on institutionalization and standardized management, and laying a solid foundation for future healthy development.

As the team of Zhongnan continued to grow, the business continued to increase, but there were problems with the project payment. Some construction units and partners owed money or refused to pay even if they had money, putting tremendous pressure on Zhongnan’s development. In 1998, while the real estate industry gradually emerged, Zhongnan was facing a situation in which large amounts of funds from external cooperation units were not credited into the account. In order to change the situation and enable the company to develop better, after some mental struggles, Chen Jinshi decided to develop real estate. However, some of the management of the company were easily to be content, standing still and refusing to make progress, and being opposed to the business of real estate development. Chen Jinshi stood his ground and decisively entered the real estate sector.

As the fifth-generation office building of Zhongnan was put into use in 2003, the modern management of Zhongnan Group ushered in a new beginning. Through continuous practice, study, summarization and exploration, Zhongnan has clearly defined the development ideas of “organic integration of industrialization and diversification” and “organic combination of industrial operation and capital management”, acquired Nantong general contracting company and successfully acquired Goldflow Universal (Tianjin) Decoration Co., Ltd. and Beijing Urban Construction Metro Foundation Municipal Engineering Co., Ltd., forming a management structure of collaborative development of diversified industries and two-tier group management.

In 2008, the real estate market experienced a cliff-type decline, bringing a huge impact on Zhongnan’s main business, and triggering the fourth development bottleneck to the company. Without transformation and upgrade, the company might fall into the abyss. In order to change the situation, from July 9 to 17, 2008, the company held a 9-day “Seminar on Reform and Rectification and Strategy” in Jinggangshan, which was participated by middle- and high-level managers, and identified the year 2008 as Zhongnan’s “Management Reform Year”, thus sounding the clarion call for three years of reform and rectification.

Culture is the soul of the enterprise. In order to rectify the team and work style, as well as to build a high-quality team that fully recognizes the culture of Zhongnan and has professional norms, tenacious style and united efforts, Zhongnan held a 12-day reform and rectification meeting in Xibaipo from Sept. 30 to Oct. 10, 2013. At the Binhai meeting held in November 2015, Zhongnan proposed new reform initiatives and development strategies such as “institutionalized, standardized and procedural reform”, “three-wheel drive”, “collaborative development of six sectors” and “l(fā)inkage of seven resources”, and adjusted the strategic layout by focusing the real estate business in first- and second-tier cities and upgrading products to medium and high-end boutiques, so as to create a new industry chain and ecosystem of Zhongnan. In August 2016, Zhongnan held a press conference in Shanghai, releasing its “13th Five-Year” strategy. Subsequently, Zoina Land moved to Shanghai, the layout shifted from the third- and fourth-tier cities to the first- and second-tier cities, and the sales doubled. In 2017, the company jumped to the top 20 real estate companies in China.