Hair continued to grow into the early 1990s along with China's economy. Aided by continuing market-oriented economic reforms that aimed to create a "socialist market economy," China's GDP had grown at an annual rate of 9.5% from 1980 to 1990. By 1991, Haier was China's leading refrigerator manufacturer. The country still offered plenty of room for growth, and Haier managers wanted to ensure market leadership. Zhang's long-time lieutenant, Ms.Yang Mianmain , explained, "At the time, demand outstripped supply, and we didn't have a large-scale operation. So we were focused on China's market. We didn't think about building our brand in the international market yet." A Haier marketing executive added, "Our target is to become a first-class brand. We need to have a fairly large scale in order to achieve this. If this brand is not of large scale, it will not be successful.