Ni Runfeng, the former chairman who helped turn Changhong from a military manufacturer into one of China’s leading television makers, died of illness on November 11, 2026, at a hospital in Mianyang, Sichuan. He was 82, according to an announcement by Sichuan Changhong Electronics Holding Group cited by The Paper.
Born in 1944, Ni joined the state-owned Changhong factory after graduating in mechanical manufacturing from Dalian Institute of Technology in 1967. The factory made military equipment, including airborne radar. Ni began as a workshop technician and became its director in 1985, when Chinese military manufacturers were increasingly exploring civilian markets.
Under Ni, Changhong made color televisions a central part of that transition. The company imported a production line from Japan, expanded output and competed aggressively on price. In a 2001 interview with Sichuan Daily, Ni described three rounds of price cuts as pivotal to Changhong’s rise. He defended price competition as a benefit to consumers, but recalled the 1989 campaign against domestic rivals with unease, saying it had contributed to factory closures and job losses.
Changhong’s sales exceeded 18.8 billion yuan in 1997, with net profit reaching 2.7 billion yuan, according to The Paper. The company had begun shareholding reforms in 1988 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1994.
Its expansion also brought setbacks. In 1998, Ni sought to secure supplies of color picture tubes through large purchases, but the strategy left Changhong with substantial inventory and tied up funds. Ni stepped back from day-to-day management in 2000 before returning as CEO about eight months later.
An export partnership begun in 2001 with US company APEX created another risk as receivables mounted. In 2004, Changhong made a large bad-debt provision and recorded a loss of more than 3 billion yuan. Ni left his posts as chairman, director and president that July, handing management to Zhao Yong.
Ni was named a “Reform Pioneer” in 2018 and a “National Outstanding Communist Party Member” in 2021. His career spanned Changhong’s shift into consumer electronics, its rise through domestic competition and the financial strains of its later expansion.
