Ni Runfeng, the former leader of Chinese television maker Changhong, died of illness on November 11, 2026, at a hospital in Mianyang, Sichuan province. He was 82. The Paper reported the death notice published by Sichuan Changhong Electronics Holding Group.
Ni joined the state-owned Changhong Machinery Factory in Mianyang after graduating in 1967. The factory made military equipment, including airborne radar. He became its director in 1985 and steered its move into consumer electronics, making color televisions central to its business.
Price cuts became a defining—and contentious—part of that strategy. In a 2001 interview with Sichuan Daily, Ni defended price competition as a way to expand the market and make televisions affordable to more households. He also recalled the damage caused by a 1989 price war against domestic competitors, saying it had forced more than 20 TV makers out of the market and left tens of thousands of workers unemployed.
Changhong listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1994. By 1997, its sales revenue exceeded 18.8 billion yuan and net profit reached 2.7 billion yuan, according to The Paper. But efforts to secure supplies of color picture tubes beginning in 1998 left the company with substantial inventory after the purchasing plan failed to meet expectations.
A later push into exports brought another setback. Changhong began working with US company APEX in 2001, including sales on credit. As collection risks mounted, Changhong made large bad-debt provisions and recorded a loss of more than 3 billion yuan in 2004. Ni stepped down as chairman, director and president that July, handing management to Zhao Yong.
Ni’s tenure spanned Changhong’s transformation from a military factory into a major consumer brand—and the financial strains that followed its expansion.