When China’s late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping held a meeting with the country’s near-extinct “business” representatives in January 1979, he specifically asked Rong Yiren, a legendary former textile tycoon, to “do some actual work and play a role” in Beijing’s nascent economic reform efforts.
That was China’s way of inviting the nation’s residual industrialists to help the Communists rebuild a shattered economy and restore social order after the ultra-leftist, devastating Cultural Revolution that ended in 1976.
Within just a month, Mr. Rong, also known as the “Red Capitalist” who chose to stay behind in China after the Communist takeover in 1949, responded with a proposal to set up China International Trust & Investment Corp. Now known as Citic Group, the company was set up as a vehicle to attract foreign capital and help Beijing invest overseas. Eight months later, the company was in place, with Mr. Rong its chairman and chief executive.
Read Full Article HERE
Shen Hong and Ned Levin, The Wall Street Journal via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1rHr9Z1
No comments:
Post a Comment