In September last year, Miniso announced it would acquire Yonghui Superstores for around RMB 6.27 billion (USD 877.8 million). The news came as a surprise to many, who struggled to understand why Miniso founder Ye Guofu would take over what was widely seen as a risky acquisition.
Despite public skepticism, Yonghui pressed ahead with a transformation inspired by the Pangdonglai model. The reform began in May 2024, when chairman Zhang Xuansong and his team visited Pangdonglai founder Yu Donglai. With Ye Guofu’s entry as a turning point, Yonghui’s transformation has now reached its one-year mark.
On October 13, the company held a high-profile product launch in Guangzhou, where Wang Shoucheng made his first appearance as Yonghui’s new CEO. Born in 1991 and a Peking University graduate, Wang joined Yonghui as a management trainee and has now filled the CEO role that had been vacant for six months.
After eight years at the company, Wang has been deeply involved in the ongoing reform since Ye established Yonghui’s transformation task force, where he served as deputy leader. His appointment signals that the company’s restructuring has entered a more stable phase.
According to Wang, Yonghui’s 102 revamped stores now have an average net promoter score (NPS) above 40. Store traffic has increased by 80% on average, and over 60% of stores in stable operation have surpassed their highest profit levels of the past five years.
Over the past year, Yonghui has implemented sweeping organizational and supply chain reforms while aligning its corporate culture with Pangdonglai’s values. Wang often echoes Yu Donglai’s principles of “kindness, beauty, and love.”
Wang acknowledges that Yonghui is still in the early stages of adopting Pangdonglai’s model. The question now is whether it can eventually define a model of its own.
In his first interview since taking office, Wang spoke with 36Kr about the company’s transformation.
The following transcript has been edited and consolidated for brevity and clarity.
36Kr: Has Yonghui always been firm about following the Pangdonglai model? There must have been hesitation early on.
Wang Shoucheng (WS): If there was hesitation, it was earlier. We first connected with Yu Donglai in 2023, and at that time, we still hoped to carve out our own path. But by May last year, we had seen a lot and gained clarity, so we committed fully to the reform.
Ye Guofu played a major role, bringing fresh perspectives and new talent to Yonghui. For example, She Xianping, our vice president and chief product officer, joined us through Ye’s initiative.
36Kr: Employees initially doubted the reform. How did they regain confidence?
WS: People only believe when they see results. At first, our goals seemed unrealistic. But as each store completed its transformation, the results became tangible: traffic, sales, and employee income all rose. Seeing that firsthand, people realized, “We’ve found the right way,” and trust followed.
Change also spreads through influence. Whether it’s Yu Donglai, myself, or other leaders, we strive to inspire those around us. When I visit stores, I hug outstanding employees, sit with them, and help solve problems. They can feel that the company is truly changing.
Yonghui employees used to be reserved. Even when they had ideas, they kept quiet. As Yu often says, if you love something, express it. Now we openly discuss how to pursue quality, act with altruism, and help others succeed. That positivity builds shared values, and belief follows naturally.
36Kr: Beyond culture, what major changes have taken place this past year?
WS: From culture to organization, supply chain, and operations, we’ve undergone systematic change. For example, we revised our operational standards and management frameworks to empower employees to grow.
36Kr: Was dividing the company into regional units one of the key decisions of the restructuring?
WS: For a national enterprise, we had to balance speed and quality. So we split the original 15 provincial regions into smaller units, each roughly the size of a Pangdonglai operation. This allowed teams to learn in parallel and lead reform locally.
The model starts with training from Yu Donglai, followed by support from our national transformation team. Each region then learns to lead independently. Now, most regions can manage store transformations on their own.
Initially, our first 40 stores relied heavily on the national team and Yu’s guidance, taking over six months to complete 41 stores. That was unsustainable for a national chain. The regional system proved essential for scaling up efficiently.
36Kr: But didn’t this restructure reduce local authority compared to before?
WS: Not necessarily. In operations, we’ve granted full autonomy. We want each region to grow into a Pangdonglai-like business. However, in the supply chain, we’ve centralized management under She Xianping. The logic is simple: let professionals handle professional work. Regional teams excel at operations, but procurement is best managed centrally by specialists.
36Kr: Yonghui has faced internal corruption and setbacks before. Have those issues been resolved?
WS: We’re serious about combating corruption and have introduced multiple safeguards, such as standardized business card rules and internal systems that guide employees to create value appropriately.
The root cause of past issues was misaligned incentives. At Pangdonglai, corruption is rare because its culture is built on integrity and mutual trust. When employees know violations carry high personal costs and the workplace culture is sincere, people stay on the right path.
Previously, many buyers focused on squeezing suppliers for profit. That short-term thinking destroyed partnerships and encouraged misconduct. We’ve shifted to fair profit-sharing and long-term cooperation. Losing that trust would mean losing five to ten years of stable income, and no one wants to risk that.
36Kr: How have your procurement metrics changed?
WS: In the past, buyers were measured mainly by gross margin. To hit targets, some took shortcuts, such as charging extra fees from suppliers, which fueled corruption. We’ve removed such incentives altogether.
Now, our key metrics are customer satisfaction and product sell-through. When a new product launches, we monitor performance for three to six months before evaluating the team. This drives them to deliver better and more affordable products.
Our Yonghui-branded and customized products follow the same principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. That’s how we attract good partners and build great products.
36Kr: But you’ve also pushed for net-price direct sourcing?
WS: Yes. The goal is to make costs transparent across the industry, but we’re taking a gradual approach. Where direct sourcing works, we remove intermediaries, but we don’t impose it universally.
36Kr: That must be tough to implement.
WS: It is. The key is demonstrating value and staying decisive. Take low-temperature milk as an example. In the past, brands sent thousands of promoters to stores, and the cost was passed on to consumers. We removed those 2,000 promoters nationwide this spring to help suppliers save money first, then negotiated lower wholesale prices. It was hard on our staff, but that decisiveness earned suppliers’ trust. Without it, reform would stall.
36Kr: Private labels are booming everywhere. What makes Yonghui’s approach different?
WS: It starts with product philosophy: how to create unique value for customers and define standards. We borrowed Pangdonglai’s success methods and combined them with Yonghui’s scale. That scale lets us partner deeply with manufacturers to deliver exclusive products.
Quality and supply stability are crucial, and that depends on partners. We ensure they earn reasonable margins, even rebating profits when they perform well, so they can keep improving. If partners lose money, no rules will stop corner-cutting.
36Kr: Was that not the case before?
WS: Previously, we chased speed and launched hundreds of products quickly at the expense of standards. Now we apply Pangdonglai’s rigorous criteria through factory audits and site inspections to prioritize quality.
36Kr: Ye Guofu has said Yonghui’s goal is to turn profitable. How do you balance that with not pushing for higher margins?
WS: We haven’t abandoned profit goals; we’ve changed how we achieve them. For example, we don’t seek 30–40% margins on salmon or bananas. We profit through volume. We also help suppliers optimize cost structures to find savings along the chain.
Yonghui’s scale gives us an advantage. Regional retailers often can’t build private labels because manufacturers won’t open dedicated lines for a few stores, but we can.
As Ye often says, we aim to make Yonghui a retailer that doesn’t charge membership fees yet offers quality on par with Sam’s Club. I increasingly believe that’s achievable.
36Kr: Is Yonghui too dependent on Pangdonglai? When will you “graduate” from it?
WS: There’s no such thing as leaving Pangdonglai.
We’re still in the foundation stage of learning from it, and those principles will always have value.
36Kr: But ultimately Yonghui has to stand on its own.
WS: That’s what Yu Donglai hopes for too. He wants to see companies carry the torch and create a positive impact on society.
We don’t want to simply follow someone else’s success formula. We aim to internalize it, make it our own, and help others succeed in turn. Among all companies learning from Pangdonglai, Yonghui is unique in its national scale and depth of reform. Once we define our own path, the impact will be significant.
We’re now integrating Pangdonglai’s methods with Sam’s Club’s operational model, experimenting in human resources, product development, organization, and culture to build our own approach. Our goal is to create a path that’s uniquely ours.
36Kr: Some say employees now earn more but also work longer hours.
WS: We’re still in transition. Balancing goals with current realities is my biggest pressure. We can’t reach the ideal state overnight. It takes time.
For now, our NPS is the key indicator. If two out of three customers say “it’s good,” that means we’re on the right track. As our supply chain strengthens, product appeal will grow, creating a virtuous cycle across products, operations, and service.
36Kr: As a rural-born Peking University graduate, your rise to CEO at 34 sounds almost cinematic.
WS: Being CEO is both an honor and a responsibility. I’m passionate about Yonghui and this mission. The pressure is huge, but I’m focused on the big picture: supply chain, HR, finance, and building systems that sustain reform.
36Kr: Why do you think the board chose you?
WS: You’d have to ask them. But since Ye formed the leadership team—with him as leader and me as deputy—I’ve been involved across operations, HR, and finance. After a year of change, I understand the business inside out. Maybe that made me the right fit.
36Kr: Some expected a Miniso executive to take over, but Yonghui chose one of its own.
WS: That’s a misunderstanding. Not many people from Miniso joined us. Ye actually opened the platform to the entire industry, inviting like-minded people who believe in this direction.
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36Kr: You seem to bridge old Yonghui and Miniso cultures.
WS: Whether from Yonghui, Miniso, or elsewhere, everyone here now shares the same goal, and integration is going well.
36Kr: Yonghui’s “five-color card” initiative began before the reform. Has it gone smoothly?
WS: Back then, our culture wasn’t strong enough to support it. Without shared values, management tools can easily go astray.
Now it’s much better. People share a common understanding based on respect, trust, recognition, encouragement, and kindness. With that foundation, everything is easier to execute.
36Kr: What cultural gaps existed before?
WS: Yonghui’s culture has always been rooted in goodness and altruism, but rapid expansion diluted those values. Without cohesion, you lose consistency and efficiency.
That’s why I emphasize culture. What matters is whether every action aligns with our values. Over the past year, we’ve rebuilt that alignment, which now supports systems like the five-color card, customer service, and quality control.
Culture is the soil. Once it’s healthy, everything grows straight.
36Kr: Understanding is one thing, execution is another.
WS: True. But Yonghui’s people have strong integrity. Even when our culture weakened, they still valued goodness. Now that our cultural compass is clear again, execution has become our strength.
36Kr: At 34, you’re still young, but it looks like the job’s already giving you gray hair. Ever feel close to breaking down?
WS: Not really, but the challenges are constant. Yonghui’s issues are complex and unique, so we have to think deeply and solve them one by one.
36Kr: So, has Yonghui made it through the crisis?
WS: Yes. Everything’s moving according to plan. The large-scale store closures have ended, marking the completion of our first reform cycle. We’ve passed the danger zone. Of course, we’ll still adjust underperforming locations, but from now on, the process will be steady and dynamic.
At our peak, we were closing and transforming stores simultaneously—it was exhausting. But that phase is behind us. Going forward, we’ll focus on refinement. Over the next three to five years, Yonghui will enter a stable, confident new era.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Li Xiaoxia for 36Kr.