"For your health, you must buy a threshing machine!" Recently, Gree's 2025 annual shareholders' meeting was held. Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Appliances, caused controversy with his speech at the meeting. His repeated product recommendations were jokingly called "turning the shareholders' meeting into a promotion meeting."


Text | "BUG" column Zhang Ao

During the shareholder question session, Dong Mingzhu also mentioned the "threshing machine" many times. A shareholder took the lead in buying it and wanted to sign it. She declined and said: "I am not Mr. Lei," which immediately caused the audience to burst into laughter.

The incident triggered some rumors. Some people said that "you need to place an order for a Gree threshing machine on site to get the opportunity to ask questions." Gree Electric denied this, saying, "The shareholders on site expressed their willingness to place orders and communicate more. Mr. Dong also smiled and followed the atmosphere and responded that he could continue the communication by placing an order. The entire conversation was just a casual interactive joke on the spot and was by no means a mandatory consumption requirement."

More controversial was her response about dividends. Dong Mingzhu suggested that after shareholders receive dividends, they should replace their home appliances with Gree products. "If the home appliances are not changed to Gree products, why should we receive dividends?"

Faced with the fact that Chinese air conditioners are "hard to find" in Europe, some shareholders asked, "Why is there not much investment in the European market?" Dong Mingzhu said frankly, "I am ashamed that my exports are not doing well. I hope it can save us some face, and we will ensure that we speed up improvements in the future."

Declined to sign, jokingly saying "I am not Mr. Lei"

Recently, Gree Electric held its 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, with a total of 432 shareholders attending the meeting. According to reports, Gree temporarily changed the meeting venue because the number of attendees exceeded the original capacity limit.


A shareholder who drove to the scene also said that "the conference was very popular": "I arrived at the Zhuhai headquarters five or six hours in advance, but (found) that about a hundred shareholders had arrived earlier and there were insufficient parking spaces on site." Afterwards, they took a bus prepared by Gree to visit the production workshop.

The shareholder revealed that Gree did not prepare a lunch at noon, but instead asked shareholders to have a buffet with Gree employees in the canteen.


In terms of confidentiality, the Gree shareholders’ meeting will continue to be strictly controlled this year.

Several shareholders said: "Before entering the factory to visit, the mobile phone camera has been covered with opaque plastic stickers and put into a sealed plastic bag. Before entering the shareholder meeting hall, you are required to store your mobile phone outside the venue. Electronic watches and other items are not allowed to be brought in."

It is worth noting that Dong Mingzhu’s speech at the shareholders’ meeting caused widespread controversy and was jokingly called “turning the shareholders’ meeting into a new product promotion meeting.”

According to comprehensive media reports and shareholder narratives, Dong Mingzhu promoted Gree-related products many times at the scene, among which the new threshing machine launched at the end of March this year was repeatedly emphasized.

Talking about the original intention of inventing the product, Dong Mingzhu said that the rice sold on the market usually loses its moisture after two or three months of removing the husk, and consumers tend to eat old rice. Therefore, Gree was encouraged to develop a threshing machine, which can instantly shell the rice and cook it immediately. According to the e-commerce platform, the cumulative sales of this product have reached thousands of units, and the latest price is about 1,600 yuan.


During the shareholder question session, Dong Mingzhu repeatedly promoted the threshing machine and emphasized: "If you all place an order, we will deliver the goods within three days. For your health, you must buy a threshing machine."

A shareholder at the scene immediately responded to support and asked Dong Mingzhu to sign a signature. She said: "I am not Mr. Lei," which subsequently caused the audience to burst into laughter.

Her words did mean something. Previously, Lei Jun, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, was watched at a Xiaomi store in Hubei and left his signature on consumers' Xiaomi mobile phones.

In a recent conversation, Lei Jun also responded for the first time to the "joke" he made with Dong Mingzhu many years ago: "At that time, we made a bet that Xiaomi's light mode would surpass Gree's heavy mode within five years. As a result, Sister Dong may have been offended and started criticizing me and Xiaomi from the beginning to the end. I couldn't fight back. After all, Sister Dong is a senior, and it is not good to fight back, especially Sister Dong is a lesbian."

Lei Jun also said: "In the end, we can only use actions to prove that we can actually make air conditioners better, but later I thought it was really inappropriate to joke."


However, another shareholder who participated in the meeting told the "BUG" column: "In the end, Dong Mingzhu took a photo alone with the person who bought the threshing machine, and at least ten people bought it before and after." At the meeting, or because more and more shareholders were buying, Dong Mingzhu made a request to the relevant person in charge of Gree: "All orders placed today must be delivered to home tomorrow morning."


In addition, in response to online rumors that "you need to place an order for a Gree threshing machine before you can get the opportunity to ask questions," Gree Electric also told the "BUG" column: "The shareholders at the scene expressed that they were also willing to place orders and communicate more. President Dong also responded with a smile and followed the atmosphere to place an order and continue the communication. The entire conversation was just a casual interactive joke on the spot and was by no means a mandatory consumption requirement."

Talking about "why Gree's valuation is not as high as that of Japanese air-conditioning company Daikin", Dong Mingzhu also responded that Gree is a manufacturing company and adheres to the bottom line of quality. When the world realizes Gree's taste, Gree's valuation will rise. Regarding the question that "Gree focuses on profits and despises market share", Dong Mingzhu said: "You have to give others a way to survive."

"If the home appliances are not changed to Gree, why should we receive dividends?"

According to reports, at this shareholders’ meeting, Dong Mingzhu also publicly reflected on a number of businesses including “Dong Mingzhu Healthy Home” and exports, and frankly admitted for the first time that Gree’s export business was “not done well”.

When it came to the situation that "Dong Mingzhu Health Home's store clerks were unclear about the products," Dong Mingzhu said: "I hope shareholders will use the spirit of finding fault with eggs to promote the development of Gree's business." She also instructed Zhu Lei, marketing director of Gree Electric Appliances, on the spot, saying that it is necessary to strengthen the training of sales staff of other Gree diversified products besides air conditioners to enhance product experience.

Zhu Lei said: "I admit that the quality of the development of 'Dong Mingzhu Health Home' across the country is uneven, and some stores do not meet the standards. Since this year, 'Dong Mingzhu Health Home' has made it clear that it cannot pursue quantity satisfaction and must give priority to quality."


At the same time, her remarks about dividends also attracted attention online. According to the 2025 annual dividend plan, Gree will distribute a cash dividend of 20 yuan (tax included) to all shareholders for every 10 shares, with a total dividend distribution of approximately 11.17 billion yuan. ‌‌

In this regard, Dong Mingzhu said that for shareholders to receive good dividends, it requires the concerted efforts of 80,000 Gree employees and channel partners. She suggested that after shareholders receive dividends, other home appliances besides air conditioners should also be replaced by Gree products. "If the home appliances are not changed to Gree, why should we receive dividends?"

Europe invests little? Frankly admit "If you don't do well, save some face"

Public information shows that in 2025, Gree Electric's operating income will be 170.447 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to the parent company will be 29.003 billion yuan, both down by about 10% year-on-year.


From a horizontal comparison, Gree's revenue growth rate is temporarily lagging behind other leading companies. In 2025, Midea Group's revenue will reach 458.502 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.08%; Haier Smart Home's revenue will be 302.347 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.71%.

In terms of overseas business, Gree lags far behind. According to the 2025 annual report, Gree Electric's overseas business only contributed 16.06% of revenue. On the other hand, Midea's overseas revenue accounted for more than 42% of total revenue, and Haier Smart Home's overseas revenue accounted for more than 50%.

At the shareholders' meeting, she responded to the expansion of overseas markets, saying that the company's exports must speed up improvements next. She also emphasized: "Gree Electric's overseas sales channels are changing urgently, and the model will need to undergo major reforms next. From a market perspective, Gree Electric still has huge space overseas because its products have expanded from air conditioners to multiple categories."

It is worth mentioning the European business. Since late June, the highest temperatures in many places in Europe have set new historical records, and many governments have issued high temperature warnings. Air conditioners from many Chinese manufacturers are "hard to find" locally. So there were shareholders at the scene asking, "Why is there not much investment in the European market?"

Dong Mingzhu responded: "I feel ashamed that I have not done well in exporting. I hope you can save some face for us, and we will ensure that we speed up improvements next time."


Regarding Gree's "unsuccessful efforts" overseas, industry analyst Zhang Shule said that at a time when Chinese air conditioners have become a "heat-reducing tool" in Europe, Gree's overseas business has declined, perhaps mainly because the product form is too traditional.

He pointed out: "Among the best-selling 'heat-cooling artifacts' in Europe, the best-selling air conditioners are often miniaturized and upgraded based on Western electrical appliance habits, and the appearance is 'decorated' based on aesthetics. Although Gree has strong power saving and reliable quality, it does not meet the new needs of overseas markets, so it has declined amid the strong rise of Chinese manufacturing overseas."