By Pujab Raj Pradhan “PuJin”
First, the sky darkened, and then came the rain — for three straight days. Central China’s Henan province has been in the headlines since it was hit with the worst torrential rains last week leaving people dead, missing and deteriorated. Even with all the latest technology and the inventions that make modern life so much easier than it once was, it took many parts of Henan province one big natural disaster to wipe all that away and remind us that here on Earth, we are still at the mercy of nature.
Starting 17 July 2021, China’s Henan province has been affected by severe flooding, caused by a period of prolonged heavy rainfall. Storms dropped the equivalent of one year’s worth of water on the city in 72 hours before moving northward. Authorities say the rain has displaced more than millions and killed at least 69 people in what the Henan people are calling the “once in a thousand-year flood”.
Horrible things keep happening in the world we live in – war, disease, natural disasters and so on, but there will always be heroic stories from ordinary people doing extraordinary things in extraordinary times. While many Chinese enterprises wasted no time and started rushing their donations to help with flood relief in the province, one sportswear maker “Erke”, owned by Chinese company Hongxin Erke Group, managed to make public headlines and win the heart of many Chinese citizens.
However, it wasn’t merely because Erke donated the highest amount of money or did something unprecedented. Following the record-breaking torrential heavy rains, on Wednesday, Erke posted a picture on its Weibo account saying “Henan will make it” and announced 50 million Yuan (7.7 million USD) of donations to the Henan rescue fund.
Founded in 2000 in Fujian Province, Erke was listed on the main board of Singapore in 2005, becoming China’s first overseas listed sportswear brand. However, after the listing, the company’s expansion was not smooth. In 2015, it lost half of its production equipment in a fire. Meanwhile, with the rapid rise of other domestic and international brands, Erke gradually fell behind its competition. Hongxing Erke was in a state of loss for a long time and it was thought the company was on the brink of declaring bankruptcy considering last year’s net profit was estimated to be minus 220 million Yuan.
As good intention is ubiquitous and despite the company’s financial trouble, the generous donation of 50 million has triggered a widespread of wild phenomenal consumer support for Erke. Chinese consumers have used various ways to express their gratitude and respect the domestic sportswear, while, many are flocking to buy their products to rescue the company. All offline and online stores have been overwhelmed and the sales figure is far from the upper limit, as large numbers of consumers are still waiting for Erke’s replenishment.
This previously forgotten brand Erke, according to the statistics provided by various Chinese e-commerce platforms, witnessed a sales jump 52 times higher in just 36 hours. The CEO is urging the buyers for rational consumption but the emotional crowd riding on the nationalism wave is emptying the shelves in wild consumption. In just two days Erke sold goods worth more than 90 million Yuan. Shops have been emptied and the entire inventory sold out. The company has told the customers they are out of stock but consumers have requested the company for the pre-order. So basically, Erke – a company that was on the brink of bankruptcy last week is now the bestselling sportswear company in China within two days surpassing Nike, Adidas and Lining.
The advantage you had yesterday will be replaced by the trends of tomorrow. You don’t have to do anything wrong, as long as your competitors catch the wave and do it right！
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