Hunan Gaoke Garden Innovation—Industry Leaders | [Issue 22] Xilai Gao: A Rising “Dark Horse” in China’s Animal Health Industry, Earning a Place Among the Top Tier

Introduction

The best way to honor our times is to create a future that’s within reach. Over the past seven years, one outstanding entrepreneur after another has successively set up shop in the Gaoke Jinma Industrial Park in Zhuzhou. These exceptional entrepreneurs, with their entrepreneurial spirit that combines responsibility, inheritance, and innovation, have played a vital role in driving Zhuzhou’s economic rise.

In this issue, we’ll be featuring Hunan Xilai Gao Animal Health Products Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xilai Gao”), located in the Xinma Industrial Park—and its Chairman, Huang Guogang.

Having been established for nine years, Xilai Gao has developed and produced 10 different products, operates two fully automated production lines, and achieved annual sales of 180 million yuan. Undoubtedly, Xilai Gao has emerged as a dark horse in China’s animal protection industry over the past few years, placing itself firmly among the industry’s top tier.

“We haven’t focused too much on what Hailigao’s strengths are; instead, we’ve been more concerned with identifying our weaknesses and continuously improving upon them. Only by addressing these shortcomings can the company keep growing and developing.” In the view of Huang Guogang, Chairman of Hailigao, the achievements Hailigao has made so far represent only the past. The path ahead is far from smooth, and as the company continues to expand in size, it will face even greater challenges and risks.

Xilai Gao focuses on precision nutrition, professionally meeting the nutritional needs of livestock and poultry. By developing personalized nutrition plans and implementing rational feeding practices along with scientifically guided nutritional supplementation, we help prevent or treat diseases in livestock and poultry, thereby promoting their health. This approach maximizes their production potential and optimizes economic benefits.

In 2010, Xilai Gao has grown from a rented 40-square-meter space to a large factory covering 3,000 square meters. The company now boasts one R&D center, eight laboratories, and two automated production lines. It specializes in the comprehensive, efficient, and professional production of pig nutrition products—including feed additives, mycotoxin adsorbents, natural growth promoters, specialized premixes, vitamins, and probiotics—about 70% of which are independently developed. Currently, Xilai Gao’s products are sold throughout China, with a sales network covering virtually every livestock-raising region across the country. Over the years, its steady growth has enabled it to establish a leading position in the animal health (or “animal care”) nutrition brand sector.

△ Group photo from the Xilai Gao employees’ annual meeting

“Although the domestic animal health industry boasts nearly 1,900 companies, the vast majority of these enterprises have annual revenues below 50 million yuan, with those generating less than 30 million yuan accounting for a significant share. It’s easy for animal health companies to survive but extremely difficult for them to grow and thrive,” said Huang Guogang. “It hasn’t been easy for us at Xilai Gao Neng to get where we are today—what’s carried us this far is our own internal development, the credibility of our brand, team building, and substantial investment in R&D.”

△ Certificates of Corporate Honor (Partial)

From the very beginning of his venture, Huang Guogang has been pondering this question: Before diving into this industry, everyone needs to ask themselves—Are we simply “doing business,” or are we “building a true enterprise”? We can’t just fixate on the products that yield the highest profits or obsess over making money in the fastest possible way. If you start a business with such a mindset, at best you’ll only be running a small-scale trade. But building an enterprise requires having ideals, a sense of responsibility, perseverance, and unwavering determination—and above all, deep focus. “The responsibility of Xilai Gao is to help our users create value.”

Last year, the outbreak of African swine fever occurred in China, causing significant losses for some pig farmers—and this posed a considerable challenge for Xilai Gao as well. Huang Guogang believes that for Xilai Gao, this is not just a crisis; it’s also a special period during which animal health companies must step up to fulfill their social responsibilities. “African swine fever won’t eliminate the market for pig farmers, but the disease does indeed persist in certain regions. Therefore, animal health companies must enhance both their own breeding technologies and disease prevention and control techniques if they are to truly shoulder their social obligations. And at Xilai Gao, our mission lies precisely in helping pig farmers improve their breeding success rates, elevate the quality of their livestock products, and promote the healthy development of the entire industry.”

△Image source: Internet; please remove if infringing.

Last September, the Xilai Gao R&D team developed a new product—Xue Yuan Kang—specifically designed to address anemia in pregnant sows, helping farmers improve their breeding success rates.

“When the dietary iron content is insufficient or when animals are unable to absorb iron from their feed, pregnant sows are prone to iron deficiency, which can lead to dystocia and health problems in piglets,” said Huang Guogang. “Xueyuan Kang can shorten the sow’s labor duration by nearly an hour, effectively reducing the likelihood of dystocia and stillbirths. It also significantly boosts iron reserves in newborn piglets, markedly increases the birth weight and vitality of piglets, and promotes faster uterine recovery in sows, thereby improving their estrus and conception rates.” Since its launch, the product has been enthusiastically embraced by the market.

△ Xilai Gao R&D Laboratory

Years of marketing experience have enabled Xilai Gao to develop its own mature sales approach. At the heart of this approach is the division of market regions and the establishment of dedicated service teams. By visiting livestock farmers, identifying benchmark customers, promoting advanced technologies, and holding educational seminars, Xilai Gao provides comprehensive farming services to frontline breeders. To continuously enhance its farming services, Xilai Gao requires more than 50 sales representatives each year to collect and report thousands of data points and case studies from livestock farmers. Through analyzing and summarizing these data and cases, the company identifies optimal product usage strategies tailored to different breeds and disease conditions.

Huang Guogang believes that a company’s development strategy must be crystal clear. To succeed in the market, one must have excellent products—products that are truly effective, stand up to rigorous aquaculture testing, and aren’t afraid of imitation or competition. And such high-quality products ultimately stem from a company’s technological expertise and R&D capabilities.

Every time Xilai Gao develops a new product, it first conducts market research, followed by formula development, raw material selection, and determination of dosage forms and dosages. Throughout this process, many factors must be taken into account, including active ingredients, national standards, and the expected efficacy. Only after passing through pilot-scale trials and large-scale trials will the product be ready for market launch. During this period, some products even require multiple rounds of refinement and upgrades before they can finally hit the market. Looking ahead, Xilai Gao plans to discontinue certain products that lack strong competitiveness or fail to deliver outstanding results, increasing the proportion of core, independently developed products with significant competitive advantages to over 90%.

△ Xilai Gao Market Promotion Event Site

In 2018, the high-standard enterprise R&D technology center established by Xilai Gao was officially put into operation. The center covers an area of 300 square meters and employs 10 R&D personnel, more than half of whom hold postgraduate degrees or higher. The R&D center is equipped with advanced testing equipment and features specialized laboratories, including a raw-material synthesis laboratory, a sterile testing laboratory, and a precision instrument room. These facilities not only provide professional assurance for the quality of our company’s products but also enable us to analyze and evaluate animal health products that represent the latest domestic and international technologies. Each year, the company allocates 10% of its net profits to R&D expenditures and has also engaged veterinary experts from the Netherlands and Germany as chief technical advisors. Furthermore, the company has established long-term cooperative relationships with universities such as Sichuan University, Hunan Agricultural University, and Yangzhou University. By adhering to a combination of independent R&D and collaborative development, the company has significantly shortened the time required to develop new products, thereby maintaining Xilai Gao’s leading position in the industry.