Led by a man for 12 years, the small, obscure company that paid taxes barely one million yuan ($148,967) over the past 30 years was turned into a pharmaceutical group whose total tax payment exceeded 3 billion yuan ($446,901).

With honesty, a charming personality and perseverance, Qu Fengcai – the president and general manager of the Jichun Pharmeceutical Co – has made outstanding contributions to Siping city's economic growth. With a strong sense of social responsibility, Qu also cares for impoverished and vulnerable people.

Many people wonder the secret of the company's fast-track development. According to Qu, it is their responsibility to prosper the company and their persistence in the process that have been motivating them.

Sika deer are a specialty of Siping that are made into food and valuable traditional Chinese medicine. The industry enjoys a long history, solid foundation, and extensive popularity, thus a huge development potential.

In 2002, the Siping sika deer was decided by the Chinese State Variety Approval Committee of Livestock and Poultry as a new variety with independent IP right. In 2005, the efficient breeding technology of sika deer and red deer in the Siping Deer Farm won the second prize of national S&T progress award – this all helped to expand the deer industry.

Trying to make the industry bigger and stronger was a challenge for Jichun's deer-oriented development. It enhanced the breeding amount of deer through a company-breeding bases-farmers combination mode, while doing a product positioning.

Due to its efforts, the China Food and Drug Administration agreed that domesticated sika deer can be used in normal food, breaking the bottleneck of the industry. The company increased the research and development of deer products with high-tech methods and upgraded its deep-processing ability and soon determined a new direction of making deer into tonic wine.

Then it established a research and development, production and tourism center of the deer industry to produce mainly health care products of "Commander Deer" (Lusiling) series. At the China Food and Drinks Fair held last year (largest of its kind in the country), the company signed letters of intent on the series of wine with more than 2,000 companies with a turnover of 300 million yuan.

The company has integrated the spirit of Jilin merchants – honesty, persistence and responsibility into every step of its growth, which has formed a unique corporate culture that are rooted in its employees’ minds.

For example, it insists to choose the best raw materials for medicine production, which has resulted in a philosophy of "products prove your personality" in the company. To guarantee the quality, staff is sent to Bozhou herbal medicine market in Anhui to purchase authentic medicinal materials, while completed quality supervision and test systems are set up in processes, including ingredient blending, processing and transporting, making sure that no substandard medicine escapes into the market.

The company has accumulated regular consumers steadily by its quality, effective products and excellent salesperson.

"I believe that, inspired by the spirit of Jishan merchants, Jichun will make its deer products top the country and contribute more to the city's economy," Qu said.