Xu Hongjie comes from a southern Chinese entrepreneurial family that has been running the company Huixing for almost 30 years. Huixing employs around 1,000 people and develops, manufactures and sells circular knitting machines worldwide. With machines under the Mayer & Cie. brand, Huixing aims to enter the premium segment in the future. As development and manufacturing are at the core of the Mayer & Cie. brand, the Albstadt site will continue to be of strategic importance going forward.

“We are very pleased that a future perspective has emerged for the company and for everything we associate with it,” says Wolfgang Müller. He has worked at Mayer & Cie. for many years as Head of Sales and, over the past weeks, has worked intensively with his colleagues and Xu Hongjie on a plan for the restart of Mayer & Cie.

The new owner returns his thanks and sincere gratitude to all the employees who supported him throughout the two-month negotiation process. He highlights Wolfgang Müller and Rainer Müller in particular: “They bestowed upon me courage and wisdom, serving as the ever-shining Big Dipper in the long night.”

Restart in several phases

For the company through which he intends to implement the restart of Mayer & Cie., Xu Hongjie has initially chosen the name “Blitzstart” (Lightning Start). The young Chinese entrepreneur does not (yet) speak German, but the 32-year-old did not choose the name by chance: In the coming weeks, the new owner plans to set up a small team to boost sales again and prepare the relaunch.

All employees will need to be rehired, as today’s signing of the purchase agreement marks the dissolution of the former Mayer & Cie. GmbH & Co. KG. For Xu Hongjie, a father of two, this means there will be no Chinese New Year celebrations this year. The holiday is celebrated on 17 February and is comparable in significance to Christmas. “There is a lot to do and very little time,” he says. “We need to make sure the company survives.”

The new owner’s goal is to gradually restart production in spring. In recent days, only assembly work has continued in the facilities on the outskirts of Albstadt-Tailfingen—machines already on order are scheduled to be delivered in the coming days—while production itself has come to a halt. Employees will also need to be brought back on board for this area.

Clear objectives

With Mayer & Cie. and its premium machines for single jersey, double jersey, interlock and jacquard, the Chinese textile entrepreneur intends to continue addressing textile innovators around the world. They should find “intelligent, reliable knitting technologies at Mayer & Cie.—developed in Albstadt, powered by our employees and designed for long-term use,” explains Xu Hongjie.

A customer-centric approach is particularly important to him: “We listen, we implement and we improve—and we do it fast,” says Xu. To underline what he means, he refers to his experience at the family-owned company Huixing: “If our customers have complaints about the machine we delivered, we make it better—once, twice, three times. And we do it as quickly as possible.”

This approach is part of Huixing’s recipe for success: Over the past three decades, the Chinese circular knitting machine manufacturer has established itself worldwide, particularly in the field of mattress ticking fabrics.

Production to remain in Albstadt

Xu Hongjie’s clearly stated goal is for Mayer & Cie. to remain what it is today: a German premium brand, developed and manufactured in Germany. “People love and trust brands with tradition,” says Xu Hongjie. “We are proud of the 120-year history and the technology within this company.”

At the same time, he emphasizes how important agility is to him—especially in development and in turning customer needs into solutions. “Our customers should see us as a partner.” Internal friction, for example caused by complex structures and lengthy processes, is not an option for him. “Simplify, digitize and renew” is the guiding principle.

From competitor to sister company

Huixing, headquartered in Shishi in China’s Fujian province, has evolved from a single machinery manufacturer into a diversified industrial group with a strong global footprint. With advanced manufacturing at its core, the group operates seven large-scale production sites, covers more than 300,000 square meters of modern facilities and has expanded its activities beyond textile machinery into areas such as software development, AI applications and industrial internet services.

With the acquisition of Mayer & Cie., Xu Hongjie is bringing together two strong names in circular knitting — a 120-year-old German premium brand and a fast-growing Chinese industrial group. Xu Hongjie describes the move as a landmark step guided by his “1+1=11” philosophy: not a simple addition, but a “chemical reaction, that unlocks synergy far beyond the expected”.

“We are honored to join Mayer, a great platform, and become part of this big family,” he says, stressing that the company’s core R&D and manufacturing base will remain in Albstadt, Germany. Xu Hongjie also underlines the cultural fit between the two organizations: “The more I have gotten to know the people at Mayer & Cie., the more I have felt like being part of a family — a family that knows its values and stands up for them.” He concludes: “In Chinese, Huixing means ‘connecting stars’. That is exactly what we aim to achieve with this step.”

The new owner

Xu Hongjie, aged 32, comes from the Chinese owner family behind Huixing, a family-run circular knitting machine manufacturer founded in 1998 with around 1,000 employees. He studied Business Management in China and the United Kingdom. This cross-cultural background enables him to understand the efficiency of Chinese manufacturing while respecting the technical rigor of German industry.

He has been actively involved in the family business for more than ten years, most recently focusing on sales and international business development. In addition to his entrepreneurial role, Xu serves as Chairman of the Shishi Young Entrepreneurs Association, where he is committed to supporting and mentoring the next generation of business leaders. He is also a member of the Quanzhou Municipal People’s Congress, representing the city of Shishi.