GREE Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai, branded as GREE, is a Chinese

home appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. The domestic application attached to ...

s manufacturer headquartered in

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

province. It is the world's largest residential air-conditioner manufacturer.Businessweek.com.

" ''Guangdong Visions: Forging China's Future.'' Retrieved on 2016-08-08. The company offers two types of air conditioners: household air conditioners and commercial air conditioners. The company also produces electric fans, water dispensers, heaters, rice cookers, air purifiers, water kettles, humidifiers and induction cookers, among other products. It distributes its products in China and abroad under the

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

GREE. The company has two joint-ventures with

Daikin is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Osaka. Daikin is the world's largest air conditioner manufacturer. History Daikin Industries Ltd was founded in 1924 as by Akira Yamada. In 1953, Daiflon or polychloro ...

, ''Zhuhai GREE Daikin Device Co., Ltd.'', and ''Zhuhai GREE Daikin Precision Mold Co., Ltd.''

History

GREE was established in

, in 1989 under its former name of Zhuhai City Haili Cooling Engineering Company Limited (). It was restructured and renamed GREE Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai in 1994. The company started as a nameless factory with 200 employees and annual production of less than 20,000 units. It was listed on the

Shenzhen Stock Exchange The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE; ) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shenzhen, in the People's Republic of China. It is one of three stock exchanges operating independently in Mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Excha ...

in 1996. The company grew 47% in 2008, despite the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, booking $23 billion in contract sales. The company is a multinational enterprise with 70,000 employees and annual production of 65.5 million units. In April 2011, GREE announced that first-quarter net income rose 47 percent from a year earlier to 934.7 million Yuan.

Products

GREE makes air-conditioners of all typesBrief Introduction
Gree Official Site and small household appliances.

Management

GREE Electric's Chairwoman is Dong Mingzhu, or "Sister Dong" as she is known in China. She was appointed CEO in 2009. She joined the company in 1990. Dong was also the Chairwoman of its largest shareholder at the time, GREE Group, until November 2016. GREE Group was owned by

Zhuhai Municipal People's Government Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

(the local government of

Shareholders

GREE Electric is a majority

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

, primarily by the city of Zhuhai. As of 31 December 2015, the largest shareholder of GREE Electric was GREE Group; it was followed by Hebei Jinghai Investment Guarantee (for 8.91%), China Securities Finance (for 2.99%), Central Huijin Investment (for 1.40%). UBS (for 1.21%), Foresea Life Insurance (for 1.14%),

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(for 0.95%), Hexie Health Insurance (for 0.80%), chairwoman Dong Mingzhu (for 0.73%) and a private equity fund (for 0.71%). In 2001 GREE Group owned a 50.289% stake in GREE Electric. GREE Group was also the largest shareholder of GREE Real Estate () until 2015. In December 2019, GREE Group sold most of the stake they owned in GREE Electric, to a private equity fund.

Sponsorships

In 2022, GREE Electric become one of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022, chosen by

Mitsubishi Electric is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1921 as a spin-off from the electrical machinery manufacturing d ...

, along with Maspion Holdings, Wuling Motors,

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

, Tiger Brokers and

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

. Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis is sponsored by GREE

References

External links

*
Official Tosot website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gree Electric Gree Group Companies in the CSI 100 Index Companies in the FTSE China A50 Index Companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Chinese companies established in 1989 Electronics companies established in 1989 Home appliance brands Companies based in Zhuhai Home appliance manufacturers of China Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning companies Chinese brands Privatization in China 1996 initial public offerings Multinational companies headquartered in China Electronics companies of China