Biographical Dictionary of New Chinese Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

Citation

Choy, W. (2011), "Biographical Dictionary of New Chinese Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 121-123. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506141111118507

Asian entrepreneurs and business leaders in focus: a new age of transformation and achievements in China

What are the new Chinese entrepreneurs and business leaders like in Mainland China? What sets them apart from other players in the competitive business arena in which there can only be a few winners (and many more failures) in the relentless game? In what ways have these business elites moved and shaped the Chinese economy, and made their presence felt or made a mark for themselves such that others would strive to follow, and perhaps, even seek ways to overtake them? A book entitled Biographical Dictionary of New Chinese Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. (2009) provides the answers to these probing questions.

China's economy has seen many fundamental changes over the last 30 years, thus paving the way for the emergence of enterprising individuals that constitute the next new generation of business elites. This exhaustive Biographical Dictionary to who is who in the Asian business economy acknowledges the significant commitments and contributions of these key, up‐and‐coming Chinese entrepreneurs and business leaders in China. This dictionary is collaboratively researched by academics and scholars from renowned colleges, business schools and universities from the People's Republic of China, the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Israel, Norway and Taiwan.

A unique feature of this dictionary is that the entrepreneurs and business leaders are alphabetically listed – from family names such as the Chens, Guos, Lis, Mas, to the Shis, Wangs, Wus, Yangs, Zhangs and Zhous, etc. As such, it allows readers to easily scan through the names of the individuals in a very systematic approach, and make the necessary reference about the specific individual. Familiar names such as Deng Xiaoping, Ho Stanley (He Hongshen), Li Jinhua, Shaw Runrun (Shaw Yifu), Shih Stan (Shi Zhenrong, Wang Liheng, Wu Yi, Zhu Rongji, etc. to name a few, would find the readers identifying and reminiscing about these unique achievers of their eras. Altogether, the dictionary contains concise biographies and profiles of the top 200 most noteworthy and influential Chinese men and women from various industries, people who have played major roles in the Chinese economy. A large number of the prominent people reviewed are from Mainland China, with others coming from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

A significant characteristic of the dictionary is that it highlights the remarkable associations and accomplishments of the individuals of the different progressive stages of social, economic, political and technological developments in China – from the period of its initial economic reform and liberalization in the late 1970s and early 1980s, to the continuous economic advances and modernization of the 1990s, to the present time of the early twenty‐first century. As a consequence of their positions of influence and power, they were able to contribute much towards the renewed developments of the Chinese market economy towards greater positive outcomes.

The dictionary covers a wide spectrum of the industrial involvements of the business elites in both the private and public sectors of the Chinese economy. The industry sectors encompass:

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  Consumer discretionary. Automobiles, media and entertainment, hospitality and retailing trade (e.g. Focus Media).

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  Consumer staples. Food and beverage (e.g. Tsingtao Brewery Company Ltd).

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  Financial. Investment, banking, real estate and other financial services (e.g. China Construction Bank, China Merchants Bank and SOHO China Ltd).

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  Healthcare. Medical services and pharmaceutical (e.g. North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp.

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  Industrial/manufacturing. Transportation, infrastructure (e.g. General Administration of Civil Aviation of China).

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  Information technology. Software (e.g. Perfect World Co., Acer).

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  Primary. Agriculture (e.g. Chaoda Modern Agriculture (Holdings) Ltd).

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  Telecommunication services, and others, in which various forms of enterprise ownership such as state‐owned corporations and collective companies, partnerships and joint ventures, private companies and family‐owned businesses are cited.

The dictionary provides essential chronicled accounts, as well as industry‐specific engagements of the professionals, so as to allow readers insightful starting points to appreciate their remarkable achievements in life and careers within their respective fields of endeavor. The backgrounds of the profiled individuals, whether they are seasoned veterans in the business, academics‐turned‐entrepreneurs, former government officials, factory directors, or the young generation of Chinese with a tenacity for doing business, will lend justification to the fact that this new class of Chinese elite is determined to reshape China's economic landscape as the new global economic power.

Many of the entries about the individuals covered their positions held in the current firm; family circumstances such as their birthplaces; their educational backgrounds – from the lowest to the highest academic achievement; the nature of their organizations' business operations; the extent of earnings by their companies; their current status which range from being heralded by the Chinese Government and the business community as the most successful individuals in China (e.g. Long Yongtu, Ma Weihua, to being investigated or persecuted by the authorities for their involvement in unethical business dealings or other matters (e.g. Lai Changxin, Mou Qizhong.

The dictionary cited the visionary leadership styles, managerial philosophies, personal beliefs about wealth creation, growth‐decision strategies, and to some extent, their sociopolitical connections or guanxi, as being the key to their phenomenal success. In many of the reviews, many of the elite have good educational qualifications, as well as a personal touch and strong sense of business acumen and research into the dynamic Chinese markets and economic developments, which has allowed them to establish sound business frameworks and take measures to capitalize on the potential opportunities. Eventually, they are able to transform their organizations into major players with considerable market exposure in China such that they are yielding high‐profit margins and returns on investment.

This new biographical dictionary can be considered the first Asian business biographical book of its kind to systematically profile Chinese entrepreneurs and business leaders based on independent research, and thus, may serve to be a recognized and respected work of reference for practitioners who may be interested in learning and understanding the acquaintance of building guanxi with the right people while doing business in China. In addition, the dictionary is a useful reference source of information for academics, researchers and librarians specializing in the fields of international Asian business studies, entrepreneurship and the Chinese economic system.