The term "China·Group" may seem utterly commonplace today, but back in the 1990s, it was hailed as a brilliant "innovation" that resolved a major predicament faced by national non-regional groups at that time.

In the second half of 1995, four group enterprises including Xinhua, Chint, and Wanjia were approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce as national non-regional groups.

The approval as non-regional groups filled these enterprises with joy, yet they were caught in a dilemma when it came to removing the regional prefixes from their corporate names. "Nowadays, when people hear a name like 'XX Group', they immediately recognize it as a non-regional enterprise. But back then, the absence of a regional restriction in a company's name paradoxically made the enterprise seem smaller in people's eyes. No one could tell whether it was a local company from Yueqing, Wenzhou, a provincial one from Zhejiang, or a national enterprise of China," recalled Zheng Yuanmeng, Chairman of Xinhua Electric Group, of the ambivalence they felt back then.

"A non-regional group's name cannot contain a regional prefix, but how to make others recognize its national status became a huge challenge. The solution to this problem was the designation 'China·Group'. It not only successfully broke through policy barriers but also eliminated enterprises' worries about their brand recognition—truly a pioneering initiative. For a long time afterwards, many non-regional groups adopted this naming convention," said a former deputy county magistrate of Yueqing in charge of industry, with great pride.

"Being a non-regional group was a highly prestigious and rare honor back then. When we worked as salesmen, just mentioning 'China·Jingyi Group' would earn us instant respect from others," an employee of China Jingyi Group described the scene at that time.

It is understood that prior to 2003, the vast majority of non-regional groups based in Wenzhou adopted the "China·Group" designation. It was not until recent years that this naming practice gradually faded out of use.