Li Dongsheng shared TCL’s 45-year development experience: “Strategy” helps navigate through cycles, and it’s important to have a sense of benchmarking.

The 2026 Yabuli Forum Summer Annual Meeting will be held in Chengdu from September 4th to 6th. At the opening ceremony, Li Dongsheng, founder and chairman of TCL, reviewed the company’s 45-year development history and, drawing on his own experiences, presented four core principles for sustainable business growth. First, strategic judgment is the foundation for a company to navigate through cycles. Li Dongsheng emphasized that major technological projects often require long periods and should not seek short-term results. Taking TCL’s printed OLED project as an example, this project was initiated in 2014 and it took 12 years to complete the factory construction. After formulating a strategy, it cannot remain on paper; clear milestones must be established and implemented step by step. Second, companies should establish a sense of benchmarking and continuously strengthen their relative competitive strength. Li Dongsheng pointed out that the manufacturing industry should actively benchmark against industry leaders. In its early years, TCL used excellent Japanese manufacturing companies as models for learning. At different stages of development, the company should select leading domestic and international enterprises as references to continuously improve and upgrade itself. Third, importance should be placed on talent development, establishing a scientific incentive mechanism and talent development system. Li Dongsheng emphasized that companies must build sustainable…