In the list of 2020 invention patents of private enterprises, Truking Technology ranked second in Hunan Province. 23 years ago, the founder Tang Yue started his business in an abandoned cattle shed in Changsha with one patent and a few laid-off workers. Today, Truking Technology has grown into one of the leading enterprises in China's medical equipment industry.

Currently, Truking Technology is working with the Ningxiang Economic Development Zone to build a world-leading bio-pharmaceutical and life science industrial chain at the 100 billion yuan level.
The Cosmetic & Pharmaceutical Machinery & Equipment Exhibition, which is held annually in April, is one of the most influential industry exhibitions in Asia and even the world. Last year, Truking Technology established its Korean subsidiary. This year, it participated in the exhibition at its home field.

At present, Truking Technology has established companies in 13 countries around the world. Its products not only dominate the domestic market, but also lead the way in pharmaceutical equipment powerhouses such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea.

"In terms of sterile packaging technology, Truking is truly the first in China. Our products now take more than 40% of the domestic market share, with the most patents and the highest selling prices," said Tang Yue, Chairman and CEO of Truking Technology.

Born into a peasant family in Dong'an County, Yongzhou City, Tang was admitted to Hunan Agricultural University through his own efforts. With knowledge and a passion for research, he served as deputy director of three electromechanical factories, registered invention patents for equipment parts used in drug sealing, which increased production speeds by three times. In 2000, Tang started his own business with a few laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises and only 200,000 yuan in hand.

Tang said, "At that time, we had no capital, no technology, and no talent, but we had our ideal, passion and perseverance."

The company started in an abandoned cowshed at the Changsha Livestock Farm. They spent 80,000 yuan on rent and 30,000 yuan having the leaking cowshed repaired, while the employees were paid only a few hundred yuan a month. Nevertheless, Tang made a bold move-loaning 1.2 million yuan to attract talent.

Tang said, "We borrowed 1.2 million yuan from the rural credit cooperative to attract talent. With the help of specialists, we built a technical team and began to have our own innovations, research and development, and products."

Having started his career with a single patent, Tang is well aware of the importance of scientific manpower. At present, Truking Technology has amassed over 4,000 patents and employed nearly 3,000 researchers worldwide, accounting for 40% of its total workforce.

"Retaining talent is a highly challenging task. Offering a satisfactory income alone is not enough. It requires a robust platform to meet their needs," said Tang. 
In 2003, Truking introduced an ampoule filling line that sold for 1 million yuan per unit. Unfortunately, as they used technology from a foreign medical enterprise, they had to pay a patent fee of 1 million yuan for each unit sold.

According to Yi Bo, chief engineer of sterile preparation equipment at Truking Technology, "It was undoubtedly a fatal blow to us. At that time, our production line had been idle for six months, and not a single unit had been sold."

Tang gathered the research and development team to overcome the problem. As the products had not been sold for six months, the pay of the executives was all cut, while technical staffs' salaries and benefits remained unchanged. Ultimately, they overcame this challenge.

When the company was just beginning to show promise, a leading German company proposed a price of 300 million yuan to acquire 51% of Truking's shares, whose net assets were less than 100 million yuan at that time.

Tang said, "We resolutely resisted that temptation. If it had acquired Truking at that time, it would have eliminated an important competitor that it has to value today, so I also admire the forward-looking strategic vision of the overseas peers."

For nearly 20 years, Truking Technology has focused on conquering critical sterile packaging technology. In 2017, this set of technologies won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.

In 2017, Truking achieved a major feat by acquiring Remaco, a pharmaceutical equipment company with nearly 150 years of history in Germany, for 1.1 billion yuan.

In 2022, Ningxiang EDZ established Truking Technology as the leader of Ningxiang biopharmaceutical and life science industrial chain. This is the first time a non-state-owned enterprise has held this position in Hunan. As the chain leader, Truking gained the initiative to plan its own industrial development and introduce supporting enterprises.
At the construction site of the fourth phase of Truking Technology's headquarters industrial park, new  plants are under construction for seven new projects in the industrial chain. At present, there are more than 60 enterprises in the Ningxiang Life Science Industry Cluster, with Truking Technology as the leading enterprise.

Ningxiang EDZ provides comprehensive services to enterprises like Truking Technology in various fields, such as policy, financing and project construction. A polymer materials industrial park project covering 115 mu (about 7.67 hectares) was signed in less than six months, and the first phase of the project is expected to be completed and put into production this year.

Jingming Matsui, Deputy General Manager of Truking Microsphere Biotechnology (Changsha) Co. Ltd, said, "In my previous work in Japan, it usually took four to five years to launch a new product. But in Truking, it is really fast to start from scratch."

From an equipment-oriented enterprise to a technology-based enterprises and a chain leader, Truking Technology is gradually realizing its vision of being at the forefront of technological innovation.

In the new era, private enterprises are called upon to write new chapters of high-quality development. 

Tang said, "If one does not strive and persevere through challenges, everything they have achieved will eventually disappear. Therefore, it is essential to keep the spirit of hard work."