New Year's Speech by the Chairman of the High tech Institute of Technology

Every New Year's Eve, the mind uncontrollably points to performance data. Compared to the previous year, have revenue and profits increased? Has the receivable decreased? But almost every time the mood is gloomy, even causing anxiety, which has been the case since the company was founded 24 years ago.

2024 will be somewhat difficult, with almost every business falling into unavoidable external competition. The emphasis I have placed on maintaining gross profit margins has often been undermined by repeated persuasion from business executives. Anxiety often occurs in a state of waiting and worry. People with strong psychological resilience can suppress its spread and growth, but no one can completely overcome it.

Ten days ago, without any warning, I was invaded by the flu and had a high fever for three days, followed by a lung infection. The severe cough made it difficult for me to sleep for several days, so I had to be admitted to the hospital. Unexpectedly, a drug rash rose all over my body. The doctor sent out the ultimate killer - hormone intervention, so I had to wait patiently in the hospital for the anxiety of New Year's Eve and the arrival of the new year.

The first two days before I checked into the ward, I was in chaos. Apart from listening to the doctor's arrangements for examinations, I was in a coma. Many relatives and friends called to inquire, but why didn't I stop running in the morning since I was never absent? On the last morning of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, I opened my eyes and saw two medical posters on the wall opposite the hospital bed. One was the "Pain Assessment Scale" and the other was the "10 Tips for Preventing Falls". After repeated reading and careful consideration, I seemed to have gained something.

The "Pain Assessment Scale" displays a ten level perception of pain in humans, with levels 7 and below being overcome through perseverance and medication intervention, while levels 8-10 are independent of human and medication will. I suddenly realized whether this concept can be applied to the operation of enterprises? Without a completely healthy enterprise, great companies like Apple and Microsoft cannot achieve level 0 painlessness; Enterprises with weaknesses can refer to levels 1-3 of "mild pain" and rely on immunity to self heal; Enterprises with severe illnesses should refer to the "moderate pain" level of 4-7, and must rely on painkillers or even anesthesia to function normally, which requires external intervention. So why do I feel anxious every New Year's Eve? What level of pain are we experiencing?

Carefully recalling our 24 year entrepreneurial journey, in terms of science and technology innovation, we won the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award twice in 2008 and 2024 respectively, and nearly ten first prizes of provincial and ministerial governments. We have strong knowledge accumulation and innovation capabilities in specific fields; In terms of business operations, apart from raising funds through listing, we have not relied on any capital or credit to achieve continuous profits for 24 years and distribute dividends to shareholders; Although 2024 is difficult, the data we have already disclosed for the first three quarters still reveals a double growth of over 50%; In 2024, USTC High Tech achieved a breakthrough in its first 200 million yuan project in history, successfully launching the Shengshi 1.0 industrial vision model and completing the initial research and development of unmanned driving and automatic decoding systems for industrial railways. The company achieved its transformation goal from a "basic automation equipment provider" to an "AI+industrial scene solution provider" after going public, and it seems that we are still making progress. The reason why we feel anxious is because we all have a fire in our hearts. Even if we achieve our goals at the beginning of the year, there will still be dissatisfaction. Why can't we do better? When you are actually in the comfort zone of 0-4 levels, your subconscious still pulls you into the pain zone of 5-7 levels. Perhaps this is the driving force of technological innovation, and moderate anxiety makes you never slack off.

The "10 Tips for Preventing Falls" tells us that falls in elderly people over 65 years old are almost unpredictable and highly likely events, only in terms of degree. If you want to avoid them to the greatest extent possible, first of all, you need to rely on self vigilance, and secondly, use external forces such as warmth, anti slip, seeking help, and companionship. When enterprises enter a certain stage of development, they may also develop many "geriatric diseases", such as the laziness or even lying flat of some vested interest personnel, the proliferation and ineffectiveness of systems, the increasingly poor cooperation between departments, the continuous rise of costs, and the emergence of internal corruption. How to overcome these age-related diseases? In addition to self-awareness, it is more important to introduce external intervention. USTC High Tech is no exception. In order to prevent falls, we will introduce well-known consulting firms to diagnose and help us optimize our management system and enhance our corporate strategy; We will follow the policy guidance of the central and provincial governments to encourage mergers and acquisitions, and seek suitable targets in the upstream and downstream of the digital economy industry chain as soon as possible. We will not limit our status, but only strive for common development and outstanding performance. The collision of ideas among multiple teams will inevitably bring competition and vitality, stirring up a stagnant pool and creating a new oasis.

My experience of illness has deeply taught me that in order to stay within the comfort zone of level 0-4 for a long time, the first thing we need to rely on is our innate immune system; If not enough, external forces are needed to stimulate the evolution of the immune system. Enterprises are the same, achieving success through individual efforts and building a giant ship through win-win cooperation. With just one thought in mind, there is a clear path ahead.

The sun is shining brightly on the first day of 2025, and everything is getting better. I hope the rash on my body will disappear soon, because there are two important strategic cooperation agreements to be signed with Western Mining and China Railway 11th Bureau before the Spring Festival, and the atmosphere will be much worse if I don't drink alcohol.

Sincerely wish the great motherland prosperity, peace, and well-being;

Sincerely wish all friends, colleagues, and family members of the University of Science and Technology of China a smooth New Year;

Sincerely wish that the passion for high-tech at the University of Technology will always be present and that the company will prosper.