Jianke Establishes Beijing R&D Center with Former Lashou CTO Guan Chong Joining as SVP of Technology
January 12 News: Former Lashou.com CTO Guan Chong has joined Jianke as Senior Vice President of Technology. This marks another instance of Jianke recruiting senior executives from the consumer sector, following the appointment of former Lashou.com CEO Zhou Feng as Executive Director, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chief Financial Officer in August 2016.
Jianke CEO Xie Fangmin also revealed that the company has recently established a 200-person R&D center in Beijing to comprehensively upgrade its technology and products.
“Technology is the foundation of e-commerce and internet enterprises. To align with current user demands, it is essential to enhance technological capabilities.” Xie Fangmin, former Director of Baidu’s Guangzhou Branch, believes that world-class internet companies such as Google regard technology as their lifeblood—a practice worthy of emulation by Chinese enterprises. Jianke, which is currently undergoing a new round of financing, has recently increased its investment in its R&D team. It has established a 200-member R&D team in Beijing, led by Guan Chong, the newly joined former CIO of New Oriental and former CTO of Lashou.com.
According to available records, Guan Chong graduated from Tsinghua University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, and earned an MBA from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. He has held key executive positions, including Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), at prominent companies such as Tsinghua Tongfang, New Oriental, and Lashou.com. With nearly two decades of professional experience, he possesses profound and distinctive insights in product design, technology research and development, and big data, along with extensive experience in team leadership.
Xie Fangmin expressed strong anticipation that, upon joining Jianke, Mr. Guan Chong would lead the R&D team forward by enhancing technology and products, helping Jianke further consolidate its position as a leading pharmaceutical e-commerce platform in China while expanding its presence in the mobile healthcare sector. It is reported that Jianke’s R&D center is located in Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Jianke’s strong emphasis on technological R&D is closely tied to Xie Fangmin’s insights into the industry. In a previous interview with VCBeat, he stated that for pharmaceutical e-commerce to achieve explosive growth, cultivating consumer awareness is key. By increasing R&D investment, Jianke aims to shape its products from the perspective of consumer education and establish itself as a brand benchmark in the pharmaceutical e-commerce sector.
In addition to technological advancements, Jianke has recently updated its brand identity by introducing a new brand mascot named “Mr. Dajian.” This character will appear on all of Jianke’s external branding materials, including its official website, product packaging, business cards, and tote bags. As the internet enters the “IP” era, Jianke has joined the ranks of the so-called “Internet Zoo.”
Jianke Unveils New Brand Identity
In fact, companies that present themselves through mascots or spokespersons are more likely to resonate with consumers, particularly in the B2C consumer sector, where approachable and amiable images tend to foster greater trust. In the pharmaceutical e-commerce industry, no company has yet achieved full market recognition or dominance. By choosing this moment to focus on building consumer awareness, Jianke has undoubtedly made a strategic masterstroke.
Jianke started out as a pharmaceutical e-commerce platform and secured $100 million in Series A financing in early 2016. In recent years, it has also expanded into the mobile healthcare sector. In July 2016, its mobile healthcare app was officially renamed “Jianke Doctor.” What gives Jianke the confidence to recruit talent against the market trend during the capital winter? Xie Fangmin, CEO of Jianke, believes: “Mobile healthcare must rely on pharmaceutical e-commerce for a profitable foundation; only by integrating with pharmaceutical e-commerce does it have a future.”
Xie Fangmin believes that the profit model of mobile healthcare is still in an exploratory stage, with its revenue streams yet to be fully uncovered. Integrating with pharmaceutical e-commerce can rapidly establish a closed loop between “medical services” and “pharmaceuticals,” thereby enabling the practice of subsidizing medical care through drug sales. Therefore, he contends that the future of mobile healthcare hinges on its integration with pharmaceutical e-commerce.
Meanwhile, Jianke has also made strides in the internet hospital sector. Xie Fangmin once revealed to reporters that Jianke had acquired Guangzhou Baiyun District Jingtai Hospital, marking the launch of its online hospital strategy. By leveraging the hospital’s prescription-issuing capabilities, Jianke aims to provide prescription support for its online pharmaceutical sales, targeting the market for online prescription drug sales.
From this perspective, Jianke has established a comprehensive layout across pharmaceutical e-commerce, internet hospitals, and mobile healthcare, with the “medical + pharmaceutical” closed-loop ecosystem largely in place.
Jianke also unveiled its 2016 performance highlights at the 2016 Partners Conference. In 2016, Jianke achieved an annual revenue of RMB 1.5 billion, representing a 50% year-on-year increase. With an annual revenue of RMB 1 billion in 2015, Jianke ranked second among online pharmacies nationwide. Based on these achievements, Jianke was awarded the “Top 10 Pharmaceutical E-commerce Companies on the 2015–2016 China Pharmacy Value List” trophy.
Looking ahead to 2017, Xie Fangmin revealed that Jianke aims to achieve an annual turnover of RMB 2.5 billion in the coming year, while progressively implementing plans such as establishing a branch in Central China and laying out its internet hospital projects, thereby gradually realizing the strategic objectives of the Jianke Smart Health Platform.