为什么那时候开始讲转型了呢？因为在传统的吃穿用这三个行业里出现了大规模的产能过剩。规模越大，企业就越玩价格战，最后相互厮杀得鲜血淋淋。海尔集团董事局主席张瑞敏说过一句著名的话：“我的利润像刀片一样薄”，就是在1997年讲的，当时朱镕基总理宣布我们约有70%的产能过剩。同时，在1997年底，亚洲地区开始发生一场非常严重的金融危机——“东亚金融危机”，整个亚洲货币开始泡沫化。

Why did you start talking about transformation at that time? Because there is a large-scale overcapacity in the traditional food, clothing and use industries. The larger the scale, the more enterprises play the price war, and finally they fight each other bloody. Zhang Ruimin, chairman of the board of directors of Haier Group, said a famous saying: "my profit is as thin as a blade", which was said in 1997. At that time, Premier Zhu Rongji announced that we had about 70% overcapacity. Meanwhile, at the end of 1997, a very serious financial crisis began in Asia: "the East Asian financial crisis", and the whole Asian Currency began to bubble.

后来，中国最大的民营企业倒闭、中国最大的保健品企业倒闭、中国最大的百货企业倒闭、中国第二大的IT企业倒闭……都是在1998年发生的。从此之后，中国企业家开始发现，原来做企业是会失败的，所以“转型”开始成为一个我们讨论的话题。