This Chinese Shoemaker Employs Nearly 170,000 Workers in Vietnam

According to Vietnamese financial media outlet CafeF on June 2:

Shoemaker giant Huali Industrial Group has grown to become the company with the largest workforce in Vietnam.

The founder of the group is Zhang Congyuan, a businessman from Taiwan, who ranked first on the Taiwan region's rich list in 2022. The company is headquartered in Guangdong Province, China, and its shares are listed directly on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Huali Group’s core business is manufacturing products for major global sports brands such as Nike, Converse, Vans, and Puma.

Currently, the company’s overseas production capacity accounts for 98.75% of the group’s total capacity, with Vietnam being the largest production center.

The company has more than 20 subsidiaries and member factories in Vietnam, mainly located in the northern and central regions. Thanh Hoa Province has been selected as a key area, with 15 factories concentrated there, while the remaining factories are distributed in Hai Phong, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, and other places.

According to the 2025 ESG Report, by the end of 2025, Huali Group’s number of employees in Vietnam is expected to remain at a high level, exceeding 169,000.

This large number currently accounts for 91.31% of Huali Group’s global workforce. In comparison, Huali Group’s factories in Indonesia employ only about 6% of its employees, while its factories in mainland China employ less than 3%.

Although the complete statistics have not yet been released, based on the employee figures currently disclosed, Huali Group can be regarded as the largest corporate group in Vietnam. Among other companies that have disclosed the highest employee numbers, for example Pou Chen Group, another major footwear company, had only about 100,200 employees as of the end of 2024.

The names of Huari's factories in Vietnam vary, such as Roll Sport, Alena, Aurora, etc., making it difficult to identify them as enterprises under the same group.

In terms of business performance, Huali Group’s 2025 financial report shows that operating revenue reached US$3.45 billion (approximately RMB 25 billion), representing a 4% year-on-year increase, mainly driven by footwear sales volume reaching 227 million pairs.

Although revenue continued to grow, net profit attributable to shareholders faced short-term pressure, declining by 16.50% to US$443 million (approximately RMB 3.21 billion). This was mainly due to dispersed orders and higher operating costs in the initial stage of capacity expansion at the new plant.

A major highlight of the company is its emphasis on diversifying its partner portfolio, and New Balance has officially become one of the group’s top five clients.