In 2002, China's IT industry was like freshly plowed farmland — full of opportunity, full of unknowns.

There was no WeChat, no Taobao, no smartphones. Enterprise digitalization was minimal — many companies hadn't even set up a local network. Erhu Information was born in this era.

The earliest business was straightforward: helping companies build networks, install systems, and handle integration. No fancy AI, no cloud-native buzzwords — just solving the most basic technical problems for clients.

A small office at 655 Fengzhou Road, Jiading District, Shanghai. A few desks, a few computers, a handful of people — that was Erhu's starting point. No fancy office, no angel investment, no business plan. Just one simple belief: do good technical work, serve clients well.

In those years, Erhu did the simplest yet most important thing — treating every project as a reputation builder. Clients referred other clients, one by one. Not a single yuan was spent on advertising, yet the client base kept growing.

Around 2010, the mobile internet wave swept across China. Smartphones became ubiquitous, 3G/4G networks rolled out, and enterprise needs shifted from "just give us a system" to "it needs to be user-friendly, visually appealing, and mobile-ready."

Erhu Information seized this shift. The company pivoted from project-based development to a "technology service provider" positioning. No longer just an outsourced team taking orders, but a partner providing ongoing technical support and system maintenance.

The old model was "finish one project, collect payment." The new model became "continuous service, long-term partnership." Client retention improved significantly, and repeat business grew.

By 2017, Erhu Information had served hundreds of enterprise clients across Shanghai and neighboring provinces. This pace wasn't fast. Compared to the "three years to IPO" stories common in the tech industry, Erhu's growth could even be called "slow."

But Song Zhuo didn't care. "In tech services, speed isn't the goal — quality is."

In 2018, Erhu Information made the most important strategic decision in its history — a comprehensive commitment to AI technology.

Before this, Erhu had always been a "traditional IT services" company. System integration, software development, network engineering — these were all proven, mature businesses. AI, on the other hand, was still something that "looked beautiful but nobody knew how to make money from it."

But Song Zhuo saw a trend: enterprise technology needs were shifting from "digitalization" to "intelligence." Where clients used to ask "can you build us a management system," they now started asking "can you make our data more valuable."

From 2018 to 2022, these five years were lonely for Erhu. No resources from big tech companies, no capital backing, no ready-made AI talent to hire. Everything had to be figured out from scratch.

But those five years of accumulation paid off in 2023.

In early 2023, ChatGPT burst onto the scene, and the global AI wave exploded instantly. Countless companies sprinted onto the AI track, but very few teams could actually deliver practical, deployed solutions.

Erhu Information, however, had already been working in AI for five years. While others were still debating "what is a large language model," Erhu had already launched a RAG knowledge base system powered by LLMs. While others were still writing AI pitches in PowerPoint, Erhu had already deployed intelligent customer service products.

This is the value of "betting five years early."

From 2024 to 2025, Erhu Information further refined its AI product matrix: ai.7zi.com (AI application platform), visa.7zi.com (visa services platform), api.7zi.com (API gateway services).

Each product addresses a real pain point. Each product has real users and real revenue. No smoke and mirrors — just solid technology solving real problems.

The market rewarded those who prepared early. Erhu didn't catch the wave — the wave caught up with Erhu.

Looking back at twenty-three years of development, what makes Erhu Information different?

It's not technology — many companies have strong tech capabilities. It's not scale — Erhu is still a focused mid-sized firm. The real differentiator is something deeper: a set of values and behavioral patterns embedded in the company's DNA.