A place where success is smooth as silk

Naziba Basher, a reporter with The Daily Star in Bangladesh, asks a question during a visit to Suning, a giant of commerce, in Nanjing. [WANG ZHUANGFEI / China Daily]

One giant of commerce, Suning, with an IT staff of 5,000 and nearly 200,000 employees worldwide, started with little more than a founder's vision. Its four aviation hubs are constantly in use to satisfy national and global demand for the products of China's largest electrical retailer.

The company's name is derived from two roads in Nanjing, Jiangsu and Ninghai. The last two letters of the first combined with the first four of the second spell success.

The first shop started in the early 1990s selling secondhand air conditioners, some of which are on display at the company's headquarters with a price tag of 2,900 yuan, no small sum in those days. One that stands just under 2 meters high sold then for the princely sum of 26,000 yuan.

In 1999, Suning's first flagship store was opened and in 2004 it was listed on the stock exchange. Chairman Zhang Jindong damaged the wooden gavel used to ring the trading bell on the first day and the hammer sits proudly on display.

During the most recent Singles Day shopping bonanza on Nov 11, the company attracted 10 million customers in the first 10 hours.

While Suning has been focused on the region, the United States and Europe offer new horizons, and are firmly within its vision — expected to play an important role in the company's strategic planning.