"D&D had a hard time in 2008 when the devaluation of the renminbi (RMB) brought the company a loss of more than 17 million yuan ($2.6 million)," said Sun Ye, the general manager of D&D. “Meanwhile, the prices of the energy and raw materials such as steel, coal and petroleum, etc. rose sharply in 2008, which increased the company's operating expenditures.”

It was risky for D&D who focuses on the international market to "go global" in 2009. Facing the challenges of the turbulent international trade environment, financial crisis, appreciation of the RMB, fluctuations of the currency, etc, instead of turning to domestic market, D&D set up a factory in Vietnam, which helped the company expand rapidly.

D&D's workshop in Vietnam [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]