To finance such a large capital investment, Haier was counting on promised bank loans of RMB
1.6 billion, but within a month of the land purchase, the Chinese central government tightened credit
nationally in an effort to halt real estate speculation. Finding no other option, Haier turned to
China’s nascent stock market, listing 43.7% of its refrigerator division on the Shanghai Stock
Exchange in November 1993. The IPO of A shares (limited to investors from mainland China) raised
RMB 369 million. “It was the first time Haier had done such a risky thing,” recalled Zhang. “If we
had not been successful with our IPO, Haier would have disappeared. We’d never done anything like
this, and that should be the only time we do it.”