Land of Books

China is said to have more books than any other country. I am not able to say whether this statement is true or not, but certainly the Chinese have a voluminous literature. In Peking there are several blocks of streets in the Chinese city which are devoted to books. The Hanlin LibraryFootnote 1 contained many thousand volumes. Among them there was one work comprising 23,633 volumes…Footnote 2

Denby, 1906

Two hundred years after Plato wrote of a fictional utopian meritocracy ruled by wise and capable “Philosopher Kings”, China instituted a real-life meritocracy to govern its 50 to 60 million people by virtuous and honest leaders selected solely on merit. That ancient meritocracy, grounded upon Confucian education and moral values, survives to this day—but what about tomorrow? I saw the future of tomorrow’s education when I met Prof. Hu Min, the visionary founder and CEO of New Channel Education Group.

China has over 50,000 programs teaching English, but in 1999, Hu Min single-handedly helped raise China’s English standards to a new level by promoting IELTS in China. He flew to the UK, boldly told leaders that “IELTS will become a rising star” in China, and returned to Beijing to form a team of outstanding teachers to research and develop China’s first set of IELTS textbooks.

Today, IELTS has 74 test centers around the country, and in 2017, over half a million of the IELTS’s 3 million test takers were from China, but the “Father of IELTS in China” is resolutely against merely teaching “exam skills”. “How is it that Chinese can study English for ten years and still be unable to speak it?” he asked. “English learning should create an actual capability, not just a shortcut to pass tests. If English is an ability that has penetrated to the marrow, tests are easy! But even as tools rust without use, English is a tool that must be used always.”

From Meritocracy to Global Competency

Hu Min’s most far-reaching innovation is probably his emphasis on cultivating youth’s “global competency” to prepare them for China’s growing global role, but even as he prepares youth for the future, he grounds them solidly in their own heritage and culture. “I encourage students to study abroad but not until after they have laid their own cultural and learning foundation.” To this end he has prepared the unique Stories of China Retold in English series, which includes television programs with China Education TV (CETV), global story telling competitions, dramatic performances, books with QR codes for supplemental mobile content and even animated features.

Today, Hu Min is in what he calls “the second chapter of my 100 years”, yet he still maintains a relentless schedule in China and abroad because he is “forever 18-years-old”:

Always keep an 18-year-old’s mentality because at 18 you still have the innocence and sunny spirit of youth but also the rights of an adult. Besides, you have a brain with an overwhelming hunger and thirst for knowledge, and a burning enthusiasm for life and the future.

But Hu Min had little thirst for knowledge until a country teacher intervened in his life—twice.

Hu Min’s Greatest Influence

Born in Mao Zedong’s hometown of Hunan in 1964, Hu Min vividly remembers the winters, feet half frozen after he’d removed his shoes to wade barefoot across a river to his rural school. It was a brutal daily trek, especially for a kid who wasn’t that keen on school. “I was so mischievous in Junior High that they finally decided to expel me, but one teacher said, ‘We live for decades; who can be certain how Hu Min will turn out? He’s young; we should give him another chance.’”

“That teacher was my life’s greatest influence,” Hu Min said, “and I tried to live up to his expectations. And luckily, he also taught me in high school. I had no interest in English then, but he told our class he could reward more of us if we prepared harder for an exam. He looked at each of us but when his eyes met mine, it seemed he spoke to me alone. After the exam, a student told me that Teacher Chen wanted me to go to his house. I hesitated, thinking I was in trouble, but the student insisted. When I got to his house, Teacher Chen said, ‘My wife and I are going to watch a movie in town. You (shall) stay and grade the papers. I prepared some snacks.’ And they left!

“My classmates watched me from outside, noses against the window. ‘What’s my score?’ they asked. After the teacher returned, I asked why he had me grade the tests. He said, ‘Because your test answers were correct.’ I did not get a prize but that affirmation was worth far more than any prize. He showed me that education’s greatest purpose is to change people’s destiny.”

15-Year-Old University Student

In 1979, at age 15, Hu Min and Chen Caixia, his future wife, both tested into Xiangtan University, and he started teaching at 19—but I wanted to know what kind of teacher the mischievous kid turned out to be. I found out when I met Prof. Wen Weiping, a National Model Teacher at Xiangtan University who was Hu Min’s college classmate and then coworker for 15 years.

“I knew Hu Min very well,” she said, “and personally, I think his success was inevitable. He and his wife Chen Caixia were the youngest in our class but Hu Min was very insightful and motivated. For example, our classmates all chose Guilin for an internship because it is so beautiful, but Hu Min chose to intern at a school right here in Xiangtan. That showed us his character and determination. And where others did little academic research, Hu Min was always one step ahead of us all editing textbooks and writing papers. That is why, at age 28, he became China’s youngest associate professor in the field of social sciences. And it was Hu Min’s farsighted vision that ultimately led him to his concept of ‘cultivating globally competent youth.’

“But Hu Min is also a man of great love. He is not our wealthiest alumni but he is one of the most generous. He has established scholarships for schools all across China, but while he delights in giving to others, he is very strict and frugal with himself. For example, when I’m overseas he only talks to me on WeChat, even if the connection is bad, because he won’t waste money on long distance calls! And he generously invites friends to nice meals but he takes home leftovers to avoid wasting food. Such things reveal his high character and values.”

Starting from Scratch in Beijing

In September, 1994, Hu Min moved from Xiangtan University to Beijing’s famous foreign language institution, the University of International Relations, where he quickly distinguished himself, but Beijing life wasn’t easy at first. His rural Hunan accent was so strong that even Beijing railway workers looked down their nose at him. “I was a former associate professor but people here treated me like a migrant worker for years!” Hu Min said. “So from day one, I determined to be successful so no one could treat me or my family like that again.”

Hu Min rapidly gained honors and recognition, as did his students, but at age 36, he was struck by the realization that he was halfway to retirement at 70. “How many more students can I teach before then?” he thought. “In private education I could reach many more students and my readers would be countless.” So Hu Min shocked his leader by resigning.

“You must think clearly!” the leader said to his star professor. “This resignation is not a joke!” Friends were also startled, and encouraged Hu Min’s wife to keep her own position as a safety net, but she knew her husband too well and also resigned her own job.

Hu Min went on to teach at New Oriental, where he worked his way up the ladder to CEO, but at age 40 he resigned to found New Channel in a small house on Zhichunlu Rd. Today, New Channel has over 8,000 employees and has published over 500 books used by its more than 100,000 students in 300 learning centers and 40 worldwide branch schools.

“I see why your motto is “I will persist until I succeed!” I said. “You are certainly successful now, but did you face any challenges?”

Doubts and Depression

Hu Min nodded somberly. “It is difficult to start a business from scratch. This world has many dreamers but how many persist until they create value for society and wealth for themselves? New Channel started in October, 2004, but by the end of 2006 I felt severely depressed because we were broke, our team was unstable and we faced cutthroat competition because everyone was doing the same thing. I felt hopeless and finally completely collapsed.”

Prof. Hu Min paused, as if still pained by the memories. “I share this calmly now, but back then I was desperate. At Spring Festival, I told my wife and son to return to Hunan for a week. ‘When you return,’ I said, ‘New Channel will no longer exist.’ I really wanted to give it up. In university and business I’d had honors, recognition and wealth. Why was it so hard to start over? I could not figure it out.

“I locked myself in the house alone for a week, never leaving, and every day I asked myself, “Why would a 40-year-old start over like this? What was in my heart then? As Xi Jinping has often said, ‘Stay true to your original aspirations and the founding mission.’

“Why create New Channel? The fact is that even now most institutions cater to students. You want scores, I’ll give you scores. But a business must find their customers’ biggest pain point, which for students is their inability to communicate in English. Teaching exam skills to improve scores cures the symptoms but not the root causes of the disease, just like pills may relieve a cold but only physical fitness training can strengthen you to resist another cold. I had started New Channel to treat both symptoms and root causes by raising ability, which would naturally raise scores—but was my original intention correct?

Remember Your First Love

“I agonized over this for days. Abandon my original dream or stick to my ideals? Success requires having the correct intention, the right team and like-minded investors who invest in you because they share your dream and you are doing the right thing. I finally decided there was no reason for failure because my intentions were right – so I determined to start afresh!

“I felt reborn, fully alive! Most businesses fail the first year and 80 to 90% die by the third year, but by year three we were thriving because we persisted in doing the right thing for students.”

This mischievous country kid, who admits he is now more mischievous than ever, has gone on to receive numerous awards for his contribution to education, including the British Cultural Association’s Global “IELTS 20 Years 20 People” Outstanding Contribution Award and the “Beijing Educational Merit Award for 30 Years of Reform and Opening Up”. But Hu Min is quick to admit that his success is due to more than just his own efforts.

“For two decades, I’ve pondered how my life might have turned out had it not been for reform and opening up,” Hu Min said. “I might still be planting fields in the countryside instead of establishing New Channel. That is unthinkable!”

New Channel’s New Mission

“But China has many companies teaching English,” I said. “What makes New Channel different?”

“Education must have a sense of mission,” Hu Min said. “Many people study a foreign language to go abroad or emigrate, but I remember crossing that freezing river barefoot as a child, and yet today I have a happy family and career right here in China, and life will only get better. So New Channel not only fully meets students’ academic needs but also helps them understand and value their own culture and country. Only cultural self-confidence can help Chinese better integrate into today’s global society—but Chinese students abroad have a big problem. Our Chinese culture and etiquette lead them to respectfully learn about their host country but they don’t share China’s stories because telling Chinese stories in English is difficult and they are not prepared. And even foreigners here in China often know little about our country.

“New Channel was probably first to emphasize that youth learn about their Chinese heritage but we hope more will join us,” Hu Min said. “The more that China develops, the more people want to know about China. So the entire world will benefit if we awaken youths’ cultural awareness. This will help the world understand China and China understand the world.”

Stories of China Retold in English Project

To help both Chinese and foreigners learn more about ancient and modern China, Hu Min’s team of Chinese and foreign experts has created the Stories of China Retold in English project. The initial 3-volume bilingual set had over 200 stories, from historical tales about culture and values to modern achievements such as high-speed rail, or scientists such as Nobel Prize laureate Tu Youyou. Hu Min has also published newly translated and beautifully illustrated versions of The Analects of Confucius, Dao De Jing and Sun Zi’s Art of War.

Hu Min’s most influential work will probably be Global Competence: The Core Literacy of Future Adolescents.

“In today’s global world,” Hu Min said, “talk of building a better world without cultural exchange is just empty words. Only mutual understanding, tolerance and respect can help us live and work together in harmony. Technology can be quantified with numbers and formulas but cultural soft power can only be wielded through human communication and interaction. So in the second half of my life I am focusing on one thing – training the global competency of youth. They need more than book knowledge and high exam scores. We build both their hard and soft power by expanding both their global perspective and their knowledge of China’s traditional cultural foundation. I am very excited about this because the 21st century is completely different from the 20th century. This is the era of globalization, but much needs to be done.”

Community of Human Destiny

“I don’t understand politics,” Hu Min said, “but I like General Secretary Xi’s vision of “a global community of shared future”. China and all countries and regions must develop together. A country that develops itself but ignores others has no future.

“President Xi often talks of ‘harmony with differences, all beautiful, one Great Community under heaven.’ As a British sinologist recently said, many countries’ development depended upon plunder, war and aggression, but China has never countenanced aggression and suppression of other countries. We have always sought peace, and we Chinese are fully confident in the future because we have patience, tenacity, and confidence that we’ll all be better off if we are kind and better to each other.”

I had one last question for this Confucian Scholar Entrepreneur. “You’ve said that you benefited greatly from reform and opening up, but do today’s youth have as many opportunities as you did? This is important for me, as I teach business to Chinese youth.”

Hu Min’s Five Magic Weapons for Success

“The future will only get better,” Hu Min said, “if you follow five magic weapons for success.”

1. Focus on strategy! Focus is simply physics. Position yourself, know who you are. How do we compete against 50,000 English education institutions? Quite often, deciding what not to do is more important than deciding what to do.

2. Differentiated competition. New Channel was not first, but we found many students having the same problem. They study English for years but can’t actually use it. So we focus not on high exam scores but high English competency, which naturally leads to high scores.

3. Hard work. The world is fair. If you give, and work hard, you will get everything you deserve.

4. Be good at reflection. Know yourself. “Ask yourself at all times, can I do better?”

5. Share benefits. You may have created the business but it is not solely yours. At first, you share with your partners; later, you create value for customers and benefit employees. China, for example, is sharing its benefits with the world through the Belt and Road Initiative.

I will be sure to borrow Hu Min’s five magic secrets for my leadership and strategy classes.

Just before I left New Channel’s Beijing headquarters, Hu Min said, “It is fate that, of the planet’s billions of people, you and I should meet.” I agree. And I’m especially thankful for the fate that led a compassionate country teacher to intervene in the life of a mischievous boy, who in turn has changed the lives of over one million youth.

I hope that I can do the same for those people fated to cross my own path.

Ballroom Dancing Inner Mongolia Blacksmith

Prof. Hu Min is both a classic Confucian scholar and a modern innovative entrepreneur, but a few days later we met a blacksmith in Inner Mongolia who also proved to be quite the entrepreneur—and a ballroom dancing philosopher as well.