New strength of Wuhan garment industry

There is no way to tell the story of the "new and old changes" in the family business. If the successor is a son-in-law, the situation is even more subtle. Forbes first published a survey of Chinese family businesses, showing that the power of son-in-law in the “second generation of enterprises” is rising. The reporter found that in the apparel industry in Wuhan, some “women’s bosses” have begun to take the helm and tried to lead a family business to a modern enterprise.

According to the statistics of Forbes magazine, of the 2,272 listed companies in China, 1,268 are private listed companies, of which 460 are family-owned enterprises and account for 32.68% of the total number of private listed companies. In the past five years, a total of 370 family-owned companies have entered the capital market, showing a blowout trend. From the data point of view, the return on total assets of listed family companies reached 6.66%, which is obviously better than the 1.75% of state-owned listed companies and the 2.82% return of listed non-family companies.

According to statistics, among the leaders of these family-owned companies, there are the most “marriage shops”, followed by brotherhood, father-son relationship, and mother-child relationship. However, among the 460 listed family companies, only the founders of 21 companies passed on to the next generation, accounting for only 4.57%. It is worth mentioning that the “power of son-in-law” is rising. This seems to be the choice that entrepreneurs who have no children under their knees have to face.

Looking at family businesses in Wuhan, there are not many industries that have entered the “success period”. One of the earliest scholars of family business research in China, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Jianghan University and a master tutor of Hubei Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, Gan Dean, told reporters: “The development cycle of family businesses is related to the overall strength of the local private economy. Family business development in Wuhan. The history is short, so there are not many enterprises entering the succession period."

As the leader of Wuhan's traditional industries in the past, the reporter found that some Wuhan garment enterprises have begun to be at the helm of the “second generation of enterprises”. According to the person in charge of the Wuhan Garment Association, “Most of the successors are sons, but there are also several women who have emerged as the actual leaders of the company.”

"The Japanese family business has said that the eldest son, the prodigal son, and the adoptive child have the same order. If the eldest son is not in use, he would rather pass it on to the adopted son, mainly according to the 'law'. However, the Chinese family company spreads and passes on her daughter. The main consideration is the blood factor, but China's 'female bosses' are mostly in charge of management rights, the ownership of which is also controlled by their daughters, which also makes the enterprises at the helm of the women's helm have more instability, said Gan Dean.