Sanhua Intelligent Controls has a market value of 220 billion. How did the director of a small rural factory transform into the richest person in Shaoxing?
70 years ago, a product called the four - way reversing valve, designed and invented by American company Ranco, changed the history of household air conditioners that could only cool. In the following decades, Ranco was the absolute leader in the four - way valve field, with the most comprehensive product range, the most patents, and the highest degree of automation in its production lines.
However, in 1996, the executives of this international giant panicked. A township company in China had independently developed a four - way valve product that was rapidly seizing the market. So, the president of Ranco personally led a team to visit the factory and offered to acquire 80% of the factory's four - way reversing valve business for 300 million yuan, a premium nearly 10 times higher than the assets of the company's four - way valve business at that time.
Facing this sky - high offer, the person in charge of the township company refused. Even more dramatically, in 2007, this company in turn acquired all of Ranco's global four - way reversing valve business, brand, and talent.
Today, this former township company has grown into the huge "Sanhua Group". The market value of its core enterprise, Sanhua Intelligent Controls, has exceeded 220 billion yuan, and it has built a diversified business map of "one for cooling, one for heating, and one for robots". The Zhang Daocai family has also accumulated tens of billions of wealth through their shareholding in the company and become the richest family in Shaoxing.
Starting with a blacksmith's furnace, the township factory director made a comeback to become the richest man in Shaoxing
The development history of Sanhua Intelligent Controls can be traced back to September 1967 when the "Xijiao People's Commune Agricultural Machinery Repair and General Factory in Xinchang County" was established. It was a small township factory with only 7 employees. The equipment consisted of just a blacksmith's furnace and a small number of hand tools. It was engaged in simple agricultural tool repair and manufacturing and was not prominent among the many small township factories.
The turning point came in 1984 when Zhang Daocai was appointed the factory director, and the small factory started its entrepreneurial journey. Zhang Daocai was born in 1950 and was introduced to the factory as a business talent in 1979. There are few records in public information about his early experiences.
After joining the factory, Zhang Daocai was in charge of sales and procurement, traveling around the country to find products. During his market trips, he found that with the rise of long - distance transportation and roadside restaurants, kitchen refrigerators were widely used, and the relevant refrigeration accessories were in great shortage.
So, Zhang Daocai set the development direction of the small factory on refrigeration accessories, and the agricultural machinery factory was transformed and renamed the "Xinchang County Refrigeration Accessories Factory". Although the direction was clear, the road ahead was still full of difficulties. At that time, the small factory was in a state of "no products for operation, no equipment for production, and no talent for management".
For example, most of the factory workers were young farmers from nearby villages. They were very enthusiastic but lacked knowledge. They couldn't read blueprints and didn't even know how to use a micrometer.
To solve the talent problem, Zhang Daocai adopted the strategy of "cultivating internally and introducing externally". For instance, he went to Shanghai Jiao Tong University to jointly establish a "school - enterprise spark alliance" and launched the independent research and development of two - way and three - way solenoid valves. He also invited professors from Shanghai Jiao Tong University to conduct closed - door training for employees and founded a vocational school for employees to train them in "mechanical drawing, design, and business management knowledge".
After that, Zhang Daocai also spent a large amount of money to introduce technical experts from home and abroad to build a composite talent team with both theoretical and practical experience.
The gradual improvement of the talent shortage laid the foundation for technological breakthroughs. In 1988, the three - way solenoid valve independently developed by Sanhua successfully passed the actual - machine test of Haier refrigerators and was appraised by the Science and Technology Commission of Zhejiang Province: "The performance has reached the international advanced level and can completely replace imports."
After that, the technological breakthrough was quickly transformed into profitability, driving Sanhua into a period of rapid growth. By 1992, when "ten - thousand - yuan households" were still rare, the single - product profit of Sanhua's three - way solenoid valve exceeded 10 million yuan, which became Sanhua's first pot of gold.
By 1998, Sanhua's second - generation leading product, the "air - conditioning four - way reversing valve", achieved an annual single - product profit of over 100 million yuan, posing a considerable challenge to Ranco's products.
What happened later is well - known. In 2007, Sanhua, which had developed from a small township factory, completed the acquisition of Ranco's global four - way reversing valve business. After years of integration, the relevant business was injected into Sanhua Intelligent Controls. This acquisition was a milestone for Sanhua Intelligent Controls to become the global leader in the refrigeration business.
As time goes by, today, Sanhua Intelligent Controls is the world's largest manufacturer of refrigeration control components. Products such as four - way reversing valves, electronic expansion valves, micro - channel heat exchangers, stop valves, and solenoid valves all rank first in global market share.
Recently, Sanhua Intelligent Controls has reached a high - light moment in the capital market. On January 19th, the intraday stock price of Sanhua Intelligent Controls hit a record high, and on January 23rd, its closing total market value was 227.4 billion yuan. Meanwhile, the wealth of the Zhang Daocai family has also increased.
On the Hurun Rich List released in October 2025, the Zhang Daocai family's wealth was 34.5 billion yuan, ranking first among the richest in Shaoxing. Now, with the further increase in the stock price of Sanhua Intelligent Controls, the wealth of the Zhang Daocai family may reach new heights.
"One for cooling, one for heating, and one for robots": The secret to the track expansion of the billion - dollar giant
What supports Sanhua Intelligent Controls' market value of over 220 billion yuan is not only the "cooling" aspect of refrigeration control components but also the "heating" aspect of new - energy vehicle thermal management.
The semi - annual report of 2025 shows that the revenue of Sanhua Intelligent Controls' refrigeration and air - conditioning electrical appliance parts and automobile parts businesses accounted for 63.88% and 36.12% respectively. Not long ago, Sanhua Intelligent Controls released its 2025 performance forecast. Driven by these two major business segments, the company's net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 25% - 50% year - on - year.
It is worth noting that Sanhua Intelligent Controls' "heating" business was acquired. In 2017, Sanhua Intelligent Controls officially entered the field of automobile thermal management by acquiring 100% of the equity of Sanhua Auto Parts through related - party transactions. However, the "Sanhua Group" companies had laid the groundwork in this field more than thirty years ago.
As early as 1987, shortly after Zhang Daocai took charge of the Xinchang Refrigeration Accessories Factory, he began to explore the development of automotive thermal expansion valves. In 2004, Sanhua Auto Parts was established, and in 2008, the company encountered a turning point in its development.
That year, Zhang Daocai visited Lu Guanqiu, the founder of Wanxiang Group. During their communication, they reached a consensus: New - energy vehicles are powered by batteries, and the battery, motor, and electronic control systems all have a large demand for heat dissipation. The supporting components have high added value, and Sanhua could find opportunities in this area.
So, why did Zhang Daocai choose to enter the field of automobile thermal management? It stems from his observation of the same technological origin. Both refrigeration and air - conditioning and automobile thermal management achieve precise control and efficient transfer of heat through core components such as valves, pumps, and heat exchangers.
Based on this judgment, Zhang Daocai made a bold decision: to bet on the heat - pump technology route, which was still unpopular at that time and was not recognized by many industry experts in the early stage. Facts have proved that Zhang Daocai made the right bet.
In 2017, Sanhua's automotive electronic expansion valve won the PACE Award from Automotive News in the United States, becoming the first Chinese automotive parts enterprise to be short - listed and win this award since its establishment in 1994. This award is known as the "Oscars of the automotive industry", and Sanhua Auto Parts became well - known in the industry.
Today, Sanhua Intelligent Controls' automotive electronic expansion valves and integrated components rank first in global market share, and its customers cover mainstream global automakers and new car - making forces.
In addition to automobile thermal management, the capital market's imagination space for Sanhua Intelligent Controls also comes from the "robot" aspect.
According to public information, Sanhua Intelligent Controls entered the field of bionic robot electromechanical actuator manufacturing several years ago and is committed to providing electromechanical actuator products that are lighter in weight, smaller in volume, and higher in precision. This is similar to the logic of entering the field of automobile thermal management, which is to "study the system and develop key components".
Sanhua Intelligent Controls' layout in the robot field is not a blind cross - border move. A securities research report pointed out that the company's motor technology, precision manufacturing process, and large - scale production capacity accumulated in the field of automobile thermal management are highly compatible with the technical requirements of humanoid robot actuators.
In the past year, the robot business has frequently caught the attention of investors. For example, in October 2025, a rumor that "Sanhua Intelligent Controls had won a 5 - billion - yuan robot order from Tesla" set off a storm in the market, and the company's stock price hit the daily limit within half an hour. That night, Sanhua Intelligent Controls clarified and clearly stated that the rumor of the large - scale order was untrue.
Sanhua Intelligent Controls denied the large - scale order, but the cooperation with Tesla is not groundless. In December 2025, a research report from Dongwu Securities mentioned that as overseas giants' humanoid robots are about to be mass - produced, Sanhua Intelligent Controls is expected to obtain 70% of the actuator assembly share, firmly maintaining its position as the main supplier. Some viewpoints further pointed out that the overseas giant is Tesla.
In summary, from a small township factory to a company with a market value of hundreds of billions, Sanhua Intelligent Controls' growth is the result of the combined effect of technology reuse and track selection. Beyond the "one for cooling and one for heating" basic business, the robot business carries new expectations, but this business has not yet realized its performance, and there is still a gap between the market enthusiasm and the fundamentals.
We will continue to pay attention to whether Sanhua Intelligent Controls can transform robot technology into real revenue to support its current market value of 220 billion yuan.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Delin Club" (ID: delinshe), author: Chidu Business. It is reprinted by 36Kr with permission.