Kelon alone produced 2.2 million last year, making it one of the world's top manufacturers.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | China: Blazing Refrigerators

Instead, its chief competitors turned out to be Chinese appliance makers, such as Haier and Guangdong Kelon.

ECONOMIST: Infatuation��s end

The Kelon team took a Japanese-made fridge to pieces to see how it worked, then reverse-engineered it.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | China: Blazing Refrigerators

Kelon's Rongsheng ("pleasant music") model soon became one of China's top brands, renowned for reliability and after-sales service.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | China: Blazing Refrigerators

Guangdong Kelon, China's largest private white-goods maker, was the first private company to list in Hong Kong, with a share issue in 1996.

FORBES: Chinese Capitalism Gets a Face

By 1991, Kelon had become the country's No. 1 fridge maker.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | China: Blazing Refrigerators

And Whirlpool's washing-machine factory now makes appliances under contract for Kelon, which sells them under its own brand, a reversal of the usual hierarchy between western and Chinese firms.

ECONOMIST: Infatuation��s end

Focused management and marketing flair (Chinese people put fridges in the living room to impress visitors, so Kelon made the smartest models) led to a Hong Kong listing and global awards.

ECONOMIST: The scare stories��and the chaotic reality

Take Kelon, a refrigerator maker.

ECONOMIST: The scare stories��and the chaotic reality