Lei Jun Reflects on Bet with Dong Mingzhu: 'It Was Just a Joke, but She Took It Personally'

Lei Jun Reflects on Bet with Dong Mingzhu: 'It Was Just a Joke, but She Took It Personally'
By Fan Jialai, The Paper — June 21, 2026

On June 21, at the special session of the "Ambassador's Living Room" during the 32nd Beijing International Book Fair, writer Liu Zhenyun and Xiaomi founder Lei Jun engaged in a cross-industry dialogue.

Discussing his recent unexpected rise to trending topics after having breakfast in Wuhan, Lei Jun laughed and said many reports should just be taken lightly.

Lei Jun explained that on Monday of that week, he returned to Wuhan to attend the World Youth Development Forum. "In the morning, I told my colleagues, let's go have breakfast. Since Hubei has a rich breakfast culture—we call it 'guo zao'—I said I'd take everyone out. They suggested recording it to promote our hometown, and I agreed."

He mentioned finding a famous alley and squatting by the roadside to eat. "A lot of people gathered to watch, and then a little girl asked why so many were taking photos. Such a simple thing ended up trending for days."

"I found it baffling, but later I thought, in this age of traffic, praise brings traffic, criticism brings traffic, and mockery brings even more," Lei Jun said.

Liu Zhenyun remarked that many things now "have no truth, only perspectives."

When asked about the most fitting "salty joke" in his life, Lei Jun brought up his 2013 bet with Dong Mingzhu.

"In 2013, I attended a CCTV event and made a bet with Gree's Dong Mingzhu. It was a joke, but then it got serious. Sister Dong took it personally and said harsh things. Later, she even said she'd make phones, putting pressure on us, so we ended up making air conditioners."

"In 2012, Gree had over 120 billion yuan in revenue, while our startup had just over 20 billion. We bet that within five years, Xiaomi's light model would surpass Gree's heavy model. But Sister Dong felt offended and started criticizing me and Xiaomi relentlessly."

"Under pressure, we couldn't fight back since Sister Dong was a senior. We had to prove through actions that we could also make good air conditioners. Looking back, I shouldn't have made that joke," Lei Jun admitted.

Host Zhang Lei commented, "Never casually joke with a strong-willed woman who takes things seriously."

Addressing recent public controversies, Lei Jun confessed, "Over the past year, we've been mired in a lot of negative public opinion."

"Initially, I thought the clear would clear itself, but it escalated, attacking our users and car owners. Early this year, I forced myself to face it, doing about ten live streams, the longest lasting 15 hours."

He recalled testing Xiaomi's car: "I said the YU7 long-range version could go 1,300 kilometers from Beijing to Shanghai on a single charge. That one sentence was taken out of context by trolls. Later, colleagues suggested a full live stream. We started at 4 a.m., set off at 6, and drove until after 9 p.m., covering over 1,300 kilometers in 15 hours, indeed only charging once. After that stream, people believed the car's range was as I said."

"Facing so much distortion and slander, explaining is tough, but not explaining hurts business more. We don't need to convince those who don't believe, but to make those who trust us trust even more. That's the best way to handle 'salty jokes,'" Lei Jun said.