Last August, the documentary "American Factory" was released in the United States, telling the story of Chinese company Fuyao Glass Co. Ltd. and its bid to set up a factory there. On Feb. 9, 2020, the film won the award for best documentary feature at the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, making Cao Dewang, chairman of Fuyao Glass and his company go viral on the Internet.

Cao Dewang (Photo/People's Daily Online)

"There are criticisms about me in this documentary, but I'm not worried about the negative impact," Cao Dewang said in comments about "American Factory" to the People's Daily online.

In the view of many netizens, "American Factory" has a lot of criticisms about Cao Dewang, founder of Fuyao Glass, which is "not necessarily a good thing" for the company. 

In an exclusive interview with a reporter from People's Daily online, Cao Dewang was open about his portrayal. 

“A lot of documentaries themselves are critical in nature, because they want to be true, 100 percent true, with no literary creation. When I asked him (the director) to do the shooting, a lot of people were surprised and thought they would 'die' because of this. I told him (the director) that whatever I do, he can shoot whatever he saw.”

During the four and a half years of filming, Cao Dewang and his factory made everything public with no reservations. Many people wonder why Cao Dewang was willing to "take such risks". 

"When I went to invest in the United States, Americans did not believe that the landing of such a large project was done by a private Chinese enterprise, including the contractors who contracted the project,” said Cao, adding that “I think, instead of letting them secretly inquire and peek, it is better for people to film and spread it. Later, they finally believed that Fuyao could do it. "

Two days before the release of "American Factory" in the United States on Aug. 21, 2019, Cao Dewang had an advance viewing of the film. Fuyao's management staff, who watched the documentary with him, were worried that it would lead to controversy.

But Cao Dewang had no such concerns. "I told the director that there is no need to change anything. As long as it does not cause any legal disputes, you can broadcast it as you like."

Cao Dewang's calm comes from his confidence in Fuyao Glass and its workers. 

In one scene from the documentary, Cao Dewang walks into the factory conference room and says to the Chinese workers sitting below, "I hope your performance will change the way Americans think about China."

"Do you think they have achieved this?" Cao Dewang did not answer the reporter's question directly, but his words revealed "satisfaction." 

"At that time, about 200 employees went to the United States for this project, and I told them that practical actions should be taken to demonstrate the hard-working values and patriotism of the Chinese people. In the film, we can see the Chinese staff are outstanding. I am very grateful to them. "

He said that Chinese workers can endure hardships and are very dedicated to their work. "China is what it is today. There is one thing in China that is absolutely better than anywhere else, that is, a uniform pace, which only the Chinese can perform. "

Fuyao’s factory in the US holds an open day every week for the locals, and Cao Dewang hopes to allow more Americans to enter this modern and "beautiful" Chinese factory.

"Many Americans have never been to China. They don't have to travel a long distance. They can visit the Fuyao factory directly in the United States. My original intention is to show Americans that Chinese enterprises are not like 'labor camps' as they imagine, but automated and modern factories. "