Peter Handstein: Chairman and Founder of Hape International (Ningbo) Ltd.

It is believed that for many families with children, they have bought "Hape" toys for their children, but few people know that its brand name comes from the founder "Handstein Peter", "Hape" is taken from the first two letters of his name, and takes the homonym Happy, which means to create a happy kingdom for children around the world.

In 2002, Hape established Hape International (Ningbo) Ltd. in Beilun, Ningbo. In 2006, a new production base in Ningbo was put into use.

As a toy brand founder who has won a number of international awards (Nuremberg International Toy Award, German Golden Horse Award, Canadian Toy Association Hot Toys Award, China Toy Association Toy Innovation Competition Gold Award, etc.), Peter is full of pride when he displays the Wall of Honor, but these honors will not affect his pace of innovation.

Encountering an opportunity for opening up to the outside world

" Ningbo is an interesting place," Peter described Ningbo 30 years ago. In 1989, the government vigorously supported the policy of opening up to the outside world, and Peter met many traders from Ningbo at the Canton Fair. Through their conversations, he gained a preliminary understanding of Ningbo. In 1993, he came to Ningbo for the first time. Unlike the openness of Guangdong, 30 years ago, Peter felt the entrepreneurial summon of exploration in Ningbo. As a pioneer, Peter hoped to start a new stage of entrepreneurship with other adventurers in Ningbo, which was a milestone during his life. Ningbo Beilun also has good and unique port conditions, which gave him an opportunity to continue to expand his toy kingdom in Ningbo as a wholly foreign-owned enterprise. In 1996, Peter settled in Ningbo and founded Hape brand in October.

From Peter's words, we understand that in the early stages of his career, although he encountered many challenges, he was still grateful because these challenges made him realize the importance of maintaining leadership and flexibility for a company. Besides, Ningbo's convenient transportation to other regions of Zhejiang Province and neighboring provinces enabled Peter to find many partners and also allowed Hape to shine here. From a normal kindergarten toy supplier of Handstein Peter Kindergarten Service, founded in 1986, Hape has transformed into a world-renowned brand of high-quality educational toys, after a long process of transformation and growth. Today, Hape has become an international cutting-edge educational toy brand marketed in more than 100 countries and regions worldwide. In 2017, Hape International (Ningbo) Ltd. was awarded the nominated enterprise of the Ningbo Mayor's Quality Award in 2016.

Holding the responsibility to give back to the society

Having been working and living in China for several decades, Peter has learned a lot from the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi, i.e. the concept of Yin and Yang. He believes that everything in the world is in a state of balance between Yin and Yang. If you gain something, you should give back as well. Peter has a strong sense of social responsibility, which he believes can be reflected in the various services and business activities of Hape.

In 2016, the year of Hape's 30th anniversary, the company launched the "We Care We Share" project. Hape kept donating toys to children in disaster-stricken, impoverished, or war-torn areas in various countries around the world, including China, Syria, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Greece, through a "buy one, donate one" program. Until today, Hape has continued to donate toys to children in need worldwide, such as those poverty-stricken areas, children's hospitals, autism treatment centers, kindergartens, refugee camps, early childhood education centers, and public children's parks, through third-party non-profit organizations and institutions like the China Toy Association and the Beilun Charity Federation. Hape also established three schools in rural areas of Guizhou, providing games and learning opportunities to nearly ten thousand children.

Peter is so proud to mention that "Two years ago, we also built 20 kindergartens in poverty-stricken areas of Yunnan." Hape established kindergartens and trained teachers to conduct teaching activities in the mountains of Yunnan, which are two thousand four hundred meters above the sea level.

When asked if he had a favorite toy, Peter believes that any toy that is beneficial to a child's development is a good toy, and that open-ended play is crucial to a child's development.

After graduation, Peter worked for a child development company. While he agreed with some of the company's ideas, he also had many creative viewpoints. For him, the company's approach to child development and evaluation was too narrow-minded, and he believed that education for children should be open-ended and not be too school-oriented too soon. This led to disagreements with his superiors. "You're only 25, how could you possibly understand?" But Peter was clear that his heart and former practices drove him to firmly believe in his ideas. Two years later, Peter founded his own company.

People have different rhythms and ways of learning of each, so caution should be exercised when developing and measuring one’s progress. An unchanging idea may be detrimental to a person's development. Forty years later, the idea that Peter had always believed in was finally confirmed by neuroscience. Before coming to China, he had worked with many teachers and served more than 30,000 kindergartens in Germany, that’s why his theory was so forward-looking.

He believes that timing and location are the keys to success. At that time, China was striving to develop and promote exports, and he created high-quality products and sought out exports, which coincided and complemented each other. He came to China at the right time, not too early or too late.

Hape adheres to Peter's philosophy that toys are tools for promoting children's growth. He believes that in the early stages of a child's life (before the age of  6), a child's main task is to play, and they approach play with the same seriousness as adults approach work. He gave an example, "When you see a child cooking for their friends in one of our toy kitchens, they are serious and engaged, just like what their parents do in the real kitchen."