Ten Years of Growth, Striving to Become a Leader in the Industry— An Interview with August Sales Champion Zhou Yuan, Kinghelm Sales Department Two

Song Shiqiang (left), General Manager of Kinghelm and Slkor, presents the August 2026 Sales Champion award to Zhou Yuan.

Strong sales drive business growth, and Zhou Yuan was named the August 2026 sales champion of Kinghelm (http://www.kinghelm.net/) and Slkor (http://www.slkoric.com/). At Kinghelm, Zhou Yuan has set himself a ten-year goal: to become one of the company's leading sales professionals, help the company become a leader in the antenna and connector industry, and grow alongside the company.

The Chinese character "Yuan"can mean "head"and, by extension, "beginning"— the starting point of something.

For Zhou Yuan, that starting point is his hometown of Meishan, Sichuan Province, a place he still speaks of with deep affection: "I was born in Meishan in 1993. Su Dongpo (Su Shi, 1037–1101), one of the leading literary figures of the Northern Song dynasty and one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, has long been a source of pride for the people of Meishan. Together with his father, Su Xun, and his younger brother, Su Zhe, he is known as one of the “Three Su.” Their lives, achievements and spirit have had a profound influence on me.

The Three Su Shrine Museum, which includes the Three Su Memorial Hall, is a National First-Class Museum in China. I have visited the museum many times, and each visit has deepened my appreciation of the enduring appeal of Dongpo and Three Su culture across the centuries."

Zhou Yuan visits the Three Su Shrine Museum in Meishan, Sichuan Province, spring 2025

Zhou Yuan of Kinghelm Sales Department Two, a native of Meishan, Sichuan Province

Zhou Yuan divides his journey from his hometown to southern China into three stages.

The first stage was in Guangzhou. He began working there in 2012 as a printing machinery operator, where he gained his first systematic experience in equipment operation and maintenance, on-site management, end-to-end quality control, safety compliance and teamwork.

The second stage was Shenzhen. Seeking better career opportunities, he moved to Shenzhen at the end of 2012 for a better opening, and his first stop was handling customer complaints at SF Express, a Fortune Global 500 company. Four to five years in the role gave him first-hand experience of the importance—and scarcity—of high-quality customer service, eventually leading him toward a career in sales.

The third stage was his transition into sales. He entered sales at the end of 2016, initially working in the automation equipment sector and selling high-precision linear guide rails and ball screws, then kept sharpening his skills and gathering experience in other industries. In February 2023 he joined Kinghelm (http://www.kinghelm.net/) as a salesperson, entering the semiconductor and electronics industry and providing customers with one-stop solutions for microwave and RF signal transmission and reception.

General Manager Song Shiqiang (center) presents a team award to Kinghelm Sales Department Two

Kinghelm (http://www.kinghelm.net/) provides strong support for employee development, helping accelerate Zhou Yuan's professional growth. He did not know that Song Shiqiang, the boss of Kinghelm and Slkor (http://www.slkoric.com/), was also from Sichuan. It was through General Manager Song Shiqiang that colleagues from Sichuan and Chongqing began joining the gatherings of the Sichuan-Chongqing electronics industry networking group, known as “Chuan-Yu Tongxin Hui ”; the company put together the Slkor Warriors basketball team and the Kinghelm badminton team and organizes games and meet-ups regularly, and through them he has been lucky enough to meet a great many Sichuan-Chongqing entrepreneurs, fellow townspeople, peers and friends who share his interests. "Playing sports after work keeps me fit, strengthens friendships, and allows me to contribute to the company and to industry exchanges," he said.

We also wish the Kinghelm brand continued success across its extensive product portfolio, including Type-C, SMA, IPEX, MCX and HDMI connectors; automotive wiring harnesses; adapter cables; pin headers and terminals; RF cables and connectors; antennas, including GPS, WiFi, Beidou, built-in, 4G and ceramic antennas; electronic components and sensors; millimeter-wave products; and a wide range of switches, jacks and other interconnect products. We also wish continued success for products such as the KH-IPEX-K501-29, KH-6X6X5H-STM, KH-6X6X5H-Z2J, KH-6X6X6H-STM, KH-VH-PT3.96, KH-SMA-P-8029 and KH-3216-H0209.

August 2024: Kinghelm and Slkor basketball training, with General Manager Song Shiqiang (fourth from left) and Zhou Yuan (center)

March 2025: Kinghelm and Slkor spring training, with Song Shiqiang (seventh from left) and Zhou Yuan (second from left)

March 2026: Kinghelm and Slkor spring training, with Song Shiqiang (eighth from right) and Zhou Yuan (seventh from left)

Basketball and badminton, Zhou Yuan says, have been part of his life since middle school. “I started playing basketball in middle school because it keeps me fit and helps me make friends who share the same interest. Even today, I play mainly for the enjoyment and the experience of taking part. I’m actually better at badminton.”

Friendship comes first, competition second — and Zhou Yuan is happy to share what he has learned: “In basketball, I usually play point guard, or the No. 1 position. My job is to bring the ball safely up the court and defend the opposing team’s main playmaker. I set up plays rather than finish them. So I play cleanly and fairly, both for my own safety and for everyone else’s, and simply enjoy the game.”

Sales champion Zhou Yuan in an interview with the Kinghelm press team

Looking back on his journey from salesperson to sales champion, Zhou Yuan attributes his success to one thing: meeting customer needs and closing deals. “The approach is simple: first understand and match the customer’s needs precisely, then build trust step by step and let the deal follow naturally. But none of this works without a deep understanding of the company and its products. That knowledge takes time to build and absorb, and it is the foundation for serving customers well and closing deals.”

To build that foundation, he breaks the sales process for RF and high-speed connectors into three steps: finding customers, visiting customers and closing deals. He keeps the process simple and moves forward steadily, learning from each customer interaction and continuously refining his approach in the field.

Step one: finding customers — focusing on high-value leads. He assesses a target company’s industry, size and key pain points, prioritizes companies that are expanding capacity, upgrading their technology or seeking domestic alternatives to imported components, and focuses on high-potential A-class customers.

Step two: visiting customers — building trust and uncovering their real needs. With engineering customers, he spends more time discussing applications and solutions, connecting product capabilities with the customer’s actual pain points and providing practical value that can be put to use. With non-engineering customers, he builds rapport by discussing industry trends and the company’s experience and capabilities, allowing trust to develop naturally.

Step three: closing deals — helping customers reach a decision without pressure. Known for his relaxed and easygoing personality, Zhou Yuan says he has also been influenced by Daoist philosophy and prefers to let things develop naturally. “My approach is simple: when a customer has a need, I focus on meeting it,” he said. “Most of the time, I make sure the samples and debugging are handled properly, provide technical support, resolve application issues, and let the quality of the service speak for itself. When a customer moves into mass production or expands and new needs arise, they naturally come to me. Do the groundwork well, and the results will follow naturally.”

Zhou Yuan, August 2026 sales champion of Kinghelm and Slkor

Shenzhen Kinghelm Electronics Co., Ltd. was founded in Huaqiangbei in 2007. The company is a member of the China Satellite Navigation and Positioning Association, the China Information Industry Chamber of Commerce and the Guangdong Connector Association, and is recognized as a National High-Tech Enterprise.

Kinghelm's engineering team has roots in Tsinghua University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and the company has continued to attract experienced professionals over the years. For 20 years, the company has focused on microwave and RF technology, designing, manufacturing, selling and supporting products for wireless signal transmission and reception, electronic signal connectors and interconnect systems.

The company holds a number of invention patents and is certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. It also has relevant Dun & Bradstreet, RoHS and REACH credentials. Its laboratory in Tangxia, Dongguan, is equipped with a fully anechoic chamber, network analyzers, and high- and low-temperature test chambers. It supports high- and low-temperature testing as well as 85/85 testing, allowing testing, debugging and prototyping to be handled in-house and helping accelerate the development of high-performance, high-reliability products.

The company's production base is located in Luzhai County, Guangxi Province, where it operates automated production lines and automatic wire-cutting, terminal-crimping and assembly equipment. Technical and management personnel are trained and assessed at the company's headquarters, while production operators receive structured training. This helps ensure that large-volume orders are delivered on time and to specification.

Kinghelm product range: RF and microwave antennas, RF cable assemblies, filters, signal switches, pin headers, data connectors and custom parts

Song Shiqiang is a Shenzhen-based entrepreneur, a researcher and writer on Huaqiangbei's business culture, a business columnist, and General Manager of Shenzhen Kinghelm Electronics Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Slkor Micro Semicon Co., Ltd. He began his career as a senior executive in the real estate industry before moving into semiconductors and electronics. He is known both for his efforts to promote domestic alternatives to imported electronic components and for his research into the business culture of Huaqiangbei.

His recent article, “A Study of Shanzhai Mobile Phones in Huaqiangbei,” has been republished by hundreds of media outlets in China and overseas. Song Shiqiang often reminds Zhou Yuan and other key members of the company to remain calm and patient, avoid shortcuts and quick profits, and focus on building lasting resources and capabilities over the long term. As he puts it, what is built over time is what lasts.

Zhou Yuan wishes Kinghelm (http://www.kinghelm.net/) and Slkor (http://www.slkoric.com/) continued success and strong performance in the years ahead. He says he will continue to put customers first and provide high-quality service, while growing through teamwork and personal development alongside the company. He remains determined to become a leading professional in the industry.