BEIJING, Nov. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 10, the Chinese Family Business Succession Report (hereinafter referred to as "the Report") was released in Beijing. It was jointly drafted by the Research Office of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), the Family Business Committee of Chinese Research Institute on Private Economy, multiple universities from cross-strait four regions and the Lee Kum Kee Family. It is the third report on China's family businesses that has been compiled under the aegis of the Family Business Commission of the Chinese Private Economy Studies Association, following the Chinese Family Business Report in 2011 and the Chinese Family Business Report on Corporate Social Responsibility in 2013.
The Lee Kum Kee Family shares its experience of family business succession in the article entitled "Lee Kum Kee's Family Culture and Succession" in the Report. At the launch conference, Mr. Sammy Lee, Executive Director of Lee Kum Kee Group and Chairman & Managing Director of LKK Health Products Group (LKKHPG), said that the Lee Kum Kee Family had been through lots of ups and downs in family business succession in the past 127 years, yet they still believed that the concept of "preventive treatment of diseases" could nurture the development of family businesses. He also hoped that the Report could help identify and resolve the issues of family businesses which have not yet externalized.
The Report provides a comprehensive and objective presentation of the history, status quo, trans-regional comparisons and trends of the family businesses in Greater China. Mr. Harry Yeung, Senior Vice President of LKKHPG, said the Report was intended to assist family businesses in sorting out, concluding and exploring more innovative practices and successful experience from theoretical and practical perspectives for the aims of healthy succession and sustainable development. And the facilitation of the successful release of the Report was another innovative practice by the Lee Kum Kee Family in shouldering social responsibility.
Born with the tide of the Reform and Opening Up, China's private economy expands gradually and its contribution to GDP increases year by year. At present, it takes up over half of China's GDP and plays an important role in transforming China's economic development mode and improving the market economic systems. Hence, family businesses which account for over 80% of private economy have become an economic force that cannot be ignored.
After over 30 years of rapid development, the majority of the first generation of family businesses are about to retire. Meanwhile, China's family businesses come to the critical period of family succession, with confronting issues intertwined with the "new normal" of comprehensive deepening of reforms, economic slowdown, and transformation of industrial structure. Therefore, the successful succession of family businesses has already become a hot topic among the government, society and enterprises, since it is not only related to the healthy development of non-public economy and the business practitioners, but also related to the national economy, occupation, environmental protection and even the social stability. So the Report released at such a crucial moment boasts realistic importance.
The Report has three chapters. "Chapter 1: Report" consists of the family business succession reports of Mainland China, HK SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan respectively. "Chapter 2: Cases" is comprised of cases of 16 representative family businesses in cross-strait four regions and Singapore. "Chapter 3: Viewpoints" shares opinions given by over 30 scholars around the globe.
According to the survey conducted in 2014 mentioned in the Report, only 40% of the second generation expressed their willingness to take over the family businesses, 15% rejected, and 45% beheld a subtle reference. This reflects the dilemma of family succession in which the senior generation are willing to hand over the business while the younger generation are not willing to take over.
About LKKHPG
LKKHPG is a member of Lee Kum Kee Group, a century-old Hong Kong enterprise. Headquartered in Hong Kong, LKKHPG's businesses cover Chinese herbal plantation, R&D, production, sales and service of TCM health products, mobile internet platform, and property investment.
