Winter is coming for Huawei
Ren Zhengfei on the economic outlook and what it means for his company
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A leaked internal memo by Huawei founder, Rén Zhèngfēi 任正非, paints a bleak economic picture.
According to Ren, the outlook for the global economy, and for China’s, is grim.
For Huawei, it’s no longer about being ambitious and going on the attack, but about survival:
活下来，哪里有钱就在哪里赚一点。从这个角度出发，我们要在市场结构上调整，研究一下哪些地方可以做，哪些地方应该放弃
Surviving, making money wherever you can find it. We need to adapt our structure to the markets, research what we can do, and what we must abandon.
He reckons this is not a short-lived thing:
未来十年应该是一个非常痛苦的历史时期，全球经济会持续衰退。现在由于战争的影响以及美国继续封锁打压的原因，全世界的经济在未来3到5年内都不可能转好，加上疫情影响，全球应该没有一个地区是亮点
The next 10 years will be a painful period in history as the world economy goes into recession. Due to the impact of the war and the continued blockade by the US, the global economy will not improve in the next 3 to 5 years. And with the impact of the pandemic, there will be no region on the planet that performs well.
A cold wind (寒气 hán qì) is how he describes the reality of his memo. The imagery of winter flows throughout - with a feeling of winter (寒意 hán yì), and getting through it (过冬 guò dōng).
Ren also uses metaphors from Buddhism, warfare, the military and agriculture, with a bit of Song dynasty poetry thrown in.
So, that’s what we explore this week!
Before we dive in, this is what your missing in our member podcast…
It’s 48 mins in total. After the audio newsletter (read by me), the native Chinese part kicks in at 20 mins 28 secs if you want to skip straight to it:
A fascinating insight into our top phrases this week - going deep on military references used by Ren (at 20 min 28 secs)
Full word list and example sentences, 25 words and phrases in total (at 23 min 28 secs)
Full article in Chinese - including the actual memo by Ren (at 30 mins 32 secs)
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The Favourite Five
1. 寒气 hán qì
a winter chill
逼这个业务自杀，把寒气传递下去 - Force the business unit to close itself down, spreading the cold winter chill across the company.
寒意 hán yì - a winter chill
寒潮 hán cháo - a cold wave
过冬 guò dōng - getting through the winter
2. 坚韧 jiān rèn
tough and resilient
78岁的任正非惯常以坚韧的形象示人，讲话直接、力量澎湃 - The 78-year-old Ren Zhengfei is used to showing a tough image, speaking directly and with power.
3. 一叶知秋 yī yè zhī qiū
the first signs of autumn
外界从任正非的讲话中“一叶知秋”时，“寒气”正笼罩在华为员工们的头顶 - As the outside world hears Ren Zhengfei say ‘the fist signs of autumn’, a winter chill is already above the heads of Huawei employees.
More: see The China Project Phrase of the Week for more nerdy facts on the background of this ancient idiom.
4. 歼灭战 jiān miè zhàn
a war of annihilation
现在要缩小战线，集中兵力打歼灭战，提升盈利 - We need to focus our energies, deploy teams in key areas and improve profitability.
More: You’ll hear more in the podcast about this and other military phrases.
5. 春江水暖鸭先知 chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī
the duck knows first when the river becomes warm in spring
如果说「春江水暖鸭先知」，那么时时接受市场反馈的公司最早做出变化，这也并不让人感到奇怪 - If the duck is first to know when the spring waters warm, then it is no big surprise that companies that get real-time feedback from the market make changes first.
Note: a line from a poem by Song dynasty poet, Sū Shì 苏轼, called River Scenes on a Spring Evening (惠崇春江晚景 huì chóng chūn jiāng wǎn jǐng).
Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
纲领 gāng lǐng
guiding principle
活下来，是华为的最低纲领，也是最高纲领 - To survive is our most basic principle; it is also our highest principle.
Meaning: it’s our bottom line but also top priority.
突围 tū wéi
breakthrough
这两年我们能不能突围，现在还不敢肯定，所以每个口都不要再讲故事 - Are we able to get through the next two years? I don’t dare to say for sure. So we all must not tell ourselves nice stories.
Note: ‘telling stories’ 讲故事 jiǎng gù shi was one of the most shared comments on social media about the memo.
棉衣 mián yī
cotton coat; warm clothing to get through the winter; to be prepared
任正非希望华为“2025年会好转”，但前提有炮弹有棉衣 - Ren Zhengfei hopes that things will improve in 2025. But the prerequisite is we must be well prepared.
Note: 炮弹 pào dàn - bullets or ammunition, also used as a metaphor for being prepared.
粮食 liáng shi
food supplies; business
把他们组合到合理岗位上去抢粮食 - They need to team up in areas where they can win the most business.
方丈 fāng zhàng
Buddhist Abbot; a senior executive
因此，提出的应对策略主要是“庙小一点，方丈减几个，和尚少一点” - Therefore, the response should be focussed on reducing office sizes, the number of executives, and team members.
More:
庙 miào - temple = offices
和尚 hé shàng - monk = team members
造血 zào xiě
make blood; generate revenue
财务要做好现金流的规划，危难时期主要是要造血 - The accounts department need to plan cashflow. During the difficult times the priority is generating revenue.
Note: 回血 huí xiě - return blood, make a return on initial outlay
军团 jūn tuán
army group; legion; team
因为奖金不是公司给的，是军团自己挣来的利润 - This is because bonuses are not given by the company, they are made by the team bringing in business.
Note: a metaphor regularly used by Ren to describe his teams.
预兆 yù zhào
omen
大公司的裁员是一种预兆，停止校招是一种现实 - Big companies laying off staff is a kind of omen; stopping hiring graduates is a reality.
铁证 tiě zhèng
irrefutable evidence
不停强调活下来也成了公司创始人对于未来不乐观的铁证 - Continuing to emphasise the need to survive has become irrefutable evidence that company founders are not optimistic about the future.
Three-character phrases
主航道 zhǔ háng dào
main course (sailing); main business
把人力物力集中到主航道来 - Put all resources into focussing on the main business.
啃骨头 kěn gǔ tou
chewing on bones; unprofitable business
我们也有肥肉市场，把原来啃骨头的人员调去啃肥肉 - We do have profitable markets. We should bring employees from under-performing markets back into these positions so they can make more money.
Related: you can also say 啃硬骨头 kěn yìng gǔ tou - chewing on hard bones
突击队 tū jī duì
commando force; specialist team
我们扩大了战略预备队和干部专家战略资源池，组成突击队去机会窗突击 - We have expanded the strategic resource pool of reserve teams, key staff and experts, and formed a commando team to attack in the window of opportunity.
More: another popular military reference used by Ren is 游击队 yóu jí duì - guerrilla force.
Idioms
包打天下 bāo dǎ tiān xià
try to do everything by yourself
资源消耗巨大的业务不如关闭以后开放让别人去做，我们不要包打天下 - We shouldn’t do business that requires huge amounts of resources. It’s better to let others do that. We don’t need to try to do everything ourselves.
枪林弹雨 qiāng lín dàn yǔ
forest of guns, rain of bullets; a vicious battle, harsh conditions
如果产品质量不好，就相当于让弟兄们冒着枪林弹雨，冰天雪地 - If product quality is not good this will mean our colleagues on the front line run the risk of facing harsh criticism.
More: 冰天雪地 bīng tiān xuě dì - a world of ice and snow, further building on the winter metaphor
节衣缩食 jié yī suō shí
reduce clothes, cut food; cutting back
华为在内部宣布要节衣缩食准备过冬 - Huawei has announced internally the need to cut back and prepare for hard times.
深思熟虑 shēn sī shú lǜ
think carefully
每一笔投资都会经过深思熟虑 - Every single investment has to be thought through carefully.
板上钉钉 bǎn shàng dìng dīng
the final word
创始人亲自发文就是板上钉钉的事实了 If the founder has put this in a document then it must be so.
Phrases
自古英雄多磨难，从来纨绔少伟男 zì gǔ yīng xióng duō mó nàn, cóng lái wán kù shǎo wěi nán
since ancient times heroes have gone through challenges, whereas privileged children do not know true greatness
没有伤痕累累，哪来的皮糙肉厚，英雄自古多磨难 - Heroes since ancient times have always weathered difficulties; without scars how can they get their thick skin?
More: 皮糙肉厚 pí cāo ròu hòu ‘thick skinned’ is a phrase not an idiom.
快刀斩乱麻 kuài dāo zhǎn luàn má
cut the hemp knot with a quick knife; make a quick and ruthless decision
不要有太遥远太伟大的理想，快刀斩乱麻，富余人员调整到战略预备队 - Do not have a lofty and grand vision. Make a fast decision. Additional staff can be transferred and held in reserve.
派士兵守在雪山顶 pài shì bīng shǒu zài xuě shān dǐng
position soldiers in high mountains; put low ranking in challenging, far off roles
原先艰苦的市场地区依旧要做，但不再「派士兵守在雪山顶」- The markets that were challenging should still be done, but there is no need to dispatch low-ranking employees to far-off lands.
Note: this is ad hoc phrase used by Ren, but it’s helpful to understand how he thinks about his staff deployed in far off places - again using military references.
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