|
'Red Capitalist' passes away at 89
By Liu Weiling and Joseph Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-28 05:41
Former Vice-President Rong Yiren, who played a key role in China's opening-up
and economic reforms, died on Wednesday night in Beijing at the age of 89.
Known as the "Red Capitalist," the legendary Rong was
the founder of China International Trust and Investment Corp (CITIC) and former
chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.
Rong Yiren.
[file] |
A native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, Rong was born in 1916 to one of China's
most prominent families running textile and flour businesses. His father, Rong
Desheng, was one of China's richest persons and well-known entrepreneurs in the
late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Rong Yiren's business career started in the 1930s.
He decided to stay on in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded
and handed over his fortune to the government in 1956.
In 1957, he was elected vice-mayor of Shanghai and was conferred the nickname
"Red Capitalist" by then vice-premier Chen Yi.
As China embarked on the reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s,
Rong was handpicked by China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to launch CITIC in
1979.
Rong soon built CITIC into the biggest conduit of foreign capital for China,
bringing in huge sums of investment from overseas.
It also became a window for China's opening-up and pioneered market-oriented
businesses at a time when the country was still under the rigid planned economic
system in the 1980s. "If not for his ability and vision in setting up CITIC, the
pace of economic development in China would not have been so fast," said Hong
Kong deputy to the National People's Congress Philip Wong.
He added that Rong was a very "mild and easy-going" person.
CITIC's bold steps included floating corporate bonds overseas and introducing
financial leasing.
Ng Leung-sing, another Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, called Rong a "role
model" because as a capitalist, he was willing to adapt to the national policy
by investing his own capital in State enterprises.
CITIC has now grown into a conglomerate with 44 subsidiaries and total assets
amounting to 701.4 billion yuan (US$86.6 billion) at the end of last year.
Rong also shared his wisdom when China was drafting a law concerning
establishment of Sino-foreign joint ventures in the late 1970s. He proposed
abolishing a ceiling on foreign stakes in joint ventures, which was later
adopted by the NPC. In 1993, Rong was elected vice-president and served in the
post till 1998.
Rong's son Larry Yung, or Rong Zhijian, 63, is chairman of Hong Kong-listed
CITIC Pacific Ltd.
(China Daily 10/28/2005 page1)
|
