Ma Jianhua, born on July 13, 1964, is the Chairman and General Manager of Hubei Xuefei Chemical Co., Ltd. A Han Chinese entrepreneur with a junior college education, he has spent more than two decades transforming a near-defunct production line into one of China’s leading nitrocellulose manufacturers. Under his leadership, the company has become a “hidden champion” in a specialized segment of Hubei’s pillar industries, a national high-tech enterprise, and a recognized model of integrity, technological progress, and social responsibility.
Hubei Xuefei Chemical was established in October 2005 in the Science and Technology Industrial Park of Laohekou City, Xiangyang, Hubei Province, with a registered capital of 30 million yuan. The enterprise specializes in the research, development, production, and sales of nitrocellulose. Its “Xuefei” brand products serve a wide range of industries, including paints, inks, wood coatings, nitrocellulose lacquers, leather finishes, adhesives, solid fuels, fireworks, and daily cosmetics. Through continuous improvement in quality control, raw materials, and production processes, the company has secured a stable share of international markets and earned the trust of domestic and overseas customers. It is a member of the World Nitrocellulose Manufacturers Association and a council member of the China Cellulose Industry Association. The firm has also been recognized as a Hubei Civilization and Integrity Demonstration Enterprise, a Harmonious Labor Relations Enterprise, and a pilot unit for modern enterprise systems among private businesses in the province.
Ma’s path to leadership began in hardship. In 1996, the original Laohekou Chemical Co., Ltd., a state-owned enterprise with a certain national reputation, collapsed into bankruptcy. Nearly 2,000 workers, including Ma, lost their jobs. Unwilling to watch the nitrocellulose production line disappear, he borrowed money from every available source, leased the equipment widely regarded as scrap, and founded Xuefei Chemical. He became the first entrepreneur in the city’s industrial sector to attempt state-to-private operation of a former state-owned plant. Facing capital shortages and a saturated domestic market, he introduced an innovative “equity-for-market” approach that helped open sales channels. He personally visited customers, established detailed client files, and even set up an office in Guangzhou to rebuild trust with a major buyer who had been alienated by previous delayed deliveries. He insisted on never delaying payments to suppliers, even when it meant further personal borrowing. These early acts of persistence and integrity laid the foundation for the company’s reputation; it has long been rated a “Contract-Honoring and Creditworthy Enterprise” at provincial and municipal levels.
Technological renewal became the decisive lever for growth. Confronting outdated equipment and inconsistent quality, Ma led the development of an “eight-chamber nitration” process that doubled capacity and dramatically improved product quality. Beginning in 2005, the company invested nearly 40 million yuan to build a computer-controlled production line that raised output fivefold and lifted annual output value to 150 million yuan. In 2014, seizing the opportunity of industrial relocation, Ma directed a further investment of about 200 million yuan to import advanced German equipment and construct a domestic leading-edge nitrocellulose facility. In 2018 the company established an academician expert workstation with Academician Wang Zeshan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In 2021 it partnered with Nanjing University of Science and Technology to form a collaborative innovation center for specialty energetic materials; the first projects were included in a national “14th Five-Year Plan” major research program. The enterprise now holds 39 national patents, operates a provincial-level R&D center and an accredited enterprise technology center, and has pioneered environmentally friendly production processes that have been promoted nationwide. These advances helped Xuefei rise to the second position in China’s nitrocellulose industry and attract international attention.
Safety and people-centered management form another cornerstone of Ma’s approach. The company has introduced practical, low-tech methods that embed safety awareness at every level: mandatory weekly handwritten copying of safety regulations (with rewards for accuracy and memorization), daily “hazard prediction training” (KYT) by frontline workers, and continuous education through workplace meetings, company buses, and internal broadcasts. Party branches, trade unions, and management cadres all participate in hazard identification and supervision, creating a culture in which “everyone is the first person responsible for safety.” Ma has also emphasized emotional management—working alongside employees, treating them as equals, and fostering a lively atmosphere of competitions, speeches, and suggestion campaigns that strengthen belonging and pride.
Equally consistent is Ma’s view of wealth and social duty. “Wealth comes from society and should be fully returned to society,” he has stated. Over the years the company and Ma personally have contributed more than 6 million yuan to public causes. During the COVID-19 outbreak he donated 100,000 yuan to the Red Cross on the second day of the Lunar New Year, arranged daily free meals for medical staff at isolation sites, vacated company warehouses for donated supplies, and personally escorted vehicles carrying critical materials across provincial borders, even at night. He later expanded pandemic support and continued funding school construction, scholarships for students from poor families, disability assistance, medical insurance funds, and rural revitalization efforts that include direct support to households with severe disabilities. The enterprise has been recognized as an advanced unit for charitable donations.
Looking ahead, Ma has reiterated the company’s determination to remain focused on fine chemicals, deepen original technology breakthroughs, advance intelligent and green manufacturing, and extend the industrial chain. The goal is to build a century-old enterprise that contributes to the revitalization of Laohekou’s chemical industry.
From a laid-off worker who refused to abandon a failing plant to the head of a technologically sophisticated, socially engaged manufacturer, Ma Jianhua’s career illustrates the power of single-minded dedication. By combining operational integrity, relentless technical upgrading, rigorous safety culture, and a clear sense of public responsibility, he has turned a specialized chemical enterprise into both an industrial benchmark and a quiet force for community well-being.