About the author 

Editorial Committee For Standing Tall:Zhejiang Businessmen on the World  Stage 

Preface 

I

On September 19, 2014, Jack Ma, Chairman of the Alibaba Group’s Board of Directors, appeared at the New York Stock Exchange. After over a decade of growth, Alibaba finally went public, setting a new record for the biggest IPO in American stock history.

The New York Stock Exchange, home to the world’s top-notch enterprises, witnessed the glorious moment of the world’s largest e-commerce company.

Surprisingly, never before had any public company provided such a grand and legitimate occasion for Chinese people’s concerted jubilations as Alibaba did.

Chinese entrepreneurs, represented by Zhejiang businessmen, inched toward the center of the world arena from the 1990s onward. They took the initiative to associate with global business giants and sit with the high-ranking government officials for negotiation over the next investment opportunity. These scenes have constituted a majestic spectacle of the Chinese economy over the last decade and more.

In 1978, China raised the curtain on its reform and opening up policy and joined the WTO in 2001, gradually transforming from a developing nation with a negligible economic aggregate to an economic body at present whose GDP ranks second in the world. The fertile business soil of China is an infallible and immense source of nutrients for the development of Chinese enterprises, even infusing a growth impetus into the world economy.

Zhejiang is located at the southern tip of the Yangtze River Delta in the southeast coastal region of China, facing the East China Sea on the east and bordering Shanghai. As one of the smallest provinces in China, Zhejiang covers an area of 101,800 km² which accounts for just a mere 1.1% of Chinese territory. However, it is the most economically active region in the country. As inconceivable as it sounds, about eight million businessmen have come from Zhejiang province, conducting every sort of trade in the most remote corners of the world, earning themselves the “Oriental Jews” title. Amid this elite business group, Jack Ma stands out as its most eminent representative.  

II

We looked far and wide, scrutinizing hundreds of entrepreneurs from the agricultural-age founders to the industrial-age explorers, then from the industrial-age pioneers to the Internet-age adventurers, and finally selected 20 representatives that have been taking an active part in global commercial activities and embody the unique qualities of contemporary Zhejiang businessmen. Their entrepreneurial journeys have inspired innumerable touching ballads eulogizing the indomitable spirit of mankind; they have set ideal examples on how to win in the game of life, better serve the society and create lasting value. In the future, they are bound to walk even farther.   

Indubitably, the countless stories of the indomitable pioneering of international enterprises have deeply touched Chinese entrepreneurs. As in the case of Henry Ford who inspired Li Shufu, founder of Geely Holding Group, to set foot in the automotive industry, or of Warren Buffett whose pioneering spirit spurred Guo Guangchang, Chairman of the Fosun Group, to follow his steps and graft global resources onto China’s dynamic development, resulting in the emergence of numerous fresh business opportunities. Or of Japan’s Toyota that spurred numerous Chinese entrepreneurs, who were endeavoring to step into high-end manufacturing, to imitate and then rise above the examples it set. A fresh tide carrying abundant opportunities is reaching the shore of China, the world’s new factory.

On a daily basis, the overseas commercial civilizations grow more intertwined with Zhejiang’s business culture which originated from the Southern Song Dynasty. The encounter between America’s creative business mode, Germany’s advanced management experience, Japan’s meticulous craftsmanship, and the business practice of Zhejiang businessmen, who keep progressing with the rise of China, is creating brilliant sparks of innovation. Through open collaboration and communication, the former barriers formed through preconceptions are being demolished and the crystallization of a new commercial civilization is taking shape with the concerted efforts of each and every nation.      

It is the shared aspiration of all the entrepreneurs on this planet to revolutionize the lifestyles of mankind and perpetuate world progress. From this perspective, all the entrepreneurs in the world think alike — after they take over the duty and mission of wealth management given to them from God.

Let us take a moment and look back on the grand entrepreneurial epic of Chinese entrepreneurs. The pioneering and adventurous spirit in Zhejiang businessmen is a perfect embodiment of our Zeitgeist. Like the successful European and American entrepreneurs, Zhejiang businessmen have propelled the progress of the times. We firmly believe that the next Morgan-style banker, Carnegie-style steel magnate, or Steve Jobs-style icon are bound to emerge from the Orient.  

III

China is a nation with very fine etiquette where five thousand years of human civilization keeps evolving. The G20 summit not only provides a window displaying the hospitality of the Orient, but also constitutes an opportunity for the world to better understand China.

Business is a process of integration. Due to business, the earth has become a big family. Business is a fluid language that dissolves the barrier of estrangement while the entrepreneurs are the founders and most loyal practitioners of the principle of seeking the widest possible common ground amid differences.   

The G20 summit is aimed at building an innovative, dynamic, interactive, and tolerant world economy and the Chinese entrepreneurs including Zhejiang businessmen have undertaken the mission endowed by the era. Zhejiang businessmen have become the participants and coordinators of this colorful commercial world and are bound to turn into the shapers of the emergent new order someday in the future.

Editorial Committee For

Standing Tall:Zhejiang Businessmen on the World  Stage

14 July 2016

Foreword

The G20 summit is China’s most significant platform for diplomatic display in the year 2016.

Entrepreneurs constitute a passport for global communication. Business is to communication what music is to language, capable of evoking an empathy in every nation on this planet.

Zhejiang businessmen epitomize the entrepreneurial spirit emerging after China’s reform and opening up. Taking on various active roles in the global arena, Zhejiang businessmen are superb masters that do business with the whole world; their stories overlap entirely with the story of the integration of the Chinese economy with that of the world’s.

In order to better and more comprehensively display the history of development and innovation of Zhejiang businessmen and present the interactive history between Zhejiang businessmen and the Chinese and global economy, we have presented 20 eminent Zhejiang entrepreneurs as the protagonists in On the Rise: Zhejiang Businessmen on the World Stage.

The First Chinese Businessman to Appear on the Cover of Time

In 1991, Lu Guanqiu accepted the exclusive interview by Time and as its cover figure became the second Chinese after Deng Xiaoping to make it onto this magazine’s cover. Without even a junior high school diploma, Lu is hailed as a “peasant theorist or a theorist lacking traditional education” by the masters of management studies.

Lu Guanqiu’s self-discipline is notoriously stringent: he invariably sets aside one to two hours for reading and making notes however busy he is. His long-kept working habits are epitomized in his  daily routine : gets up at 5:10 a.m.; arrives at the company at 6:50 a.m.; gets off work at 6:45 p.m. and goes back to his farm cottage built in 1983 for dinner with his wife; watches Xinwen Lianbo and Topics in Focus from 7 p.m.; deals with the unfinished files of that day at 8 p.m.; starts to read books and newspapers at 9 p.m.; takes a shower at 10:30 p.m. and then resumes studying; goes to bed at 12 p.m. sharp.

While leading Wanxiang in innumerable commercial battles over the years, Lu Guanqiu has also authored over 120 theoretical articles that address the crux of the Chinese economy, making himself one of the most prolific entrepreneurs in China.   

                                                        (Yao Jue)

Free Probation 

Ma Yun: Heads of State’s Regular Guest 

Zhejiang Businessmen’s Bio 

Ma Yun, President of the Board of Directors of Alibaba Group

Historic moments  

On September 19^th, 2014, Alibaba Group officially went public on the New York Stock Exchange; on December 11^th, 2014, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed that Ma Yun’s net worth exceeded that of Li Ka-shing by 300 million dollars and replaced the latter as Asia’s richest man. 

Classic quotes 

1. Let easy trade prevail in the world.

2. Whether business is easy or difficult depends on your vision. If your vision is directed all over China, you can do business with the entire nation; if your vision is cast globally, you can do business with the entire world.

On May 17^th, 2016, Ma Yun, president of the board of directors of Alibaba Group, was invited to a luncheon with American president Obama in the White House.

It was not the first encounter between Ma Yun and Obama. In 2015, they first met in the APEC CEO Summit, conversing freely on such issues as environmental conservation and climate change.

Merely a few days later, on May 23^rd, Philippe, the King of Belgium, also extended an invitation to Ma Yun to attend the high-tech industry meeting. The Belgian Prime Minister Michel even posted his photograph with Ma Yun on Twitter. Ma Yun’s journey to Belgium held more significance than a simple meal: he was trying to build momentum for Alibaba’s collaboration with Belgium in fields such as cross-border e-commerce and Alipay.

Ma Yun is probably the most “admired” Chinese entrepreneur by the heads of state from all over the world. On the list of all the heads of state who have met with him include German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Hollande. In October 2015, Ma Yun was invited to serve as the special economic affairs advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Ma Yun, along with the Alibaba Group that he launched, has become an icon in China’s e-commerce industry.

“Let Easy Trade Prevail in the World” 

Ma Yun’s entrepreneurial story is known to every family in China. 

He was previously an English teacher.

By virtue of his fluent English, Ma Yun first encountered the Internet when he was aiding in the Hangzhou government’s negotiation with an American company over a highway construction cooperation project.

Later, Ma Yun launched the first authentic Chinese business website, “China Pages” and participated in the construction of the online business sites of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

In 1999, Ma Yun started his business afresh with 18 of his family, colleagues, students, and friends with a start-up capital of 500,000 yuan in his own home in Hangzhou Lakeside Gardens.

This then insignificant crew later grew to be the world’s largest retail entity – Alibaba.

Ma Yun led Alibaba to grope about in the business to business mode (B to B mode), helping medium and small business owners to locate purchasers both at home and abroad and conduct online trade. The famous quote by Ma Yun, “Let easy trade prevail in the world”, found its way into China’s commercial history ever since.

After the success of Alibaba, the golden age of China’s e-commerce industry arrived. Ma Yun’s dream came true and innumerable medium and small enterprises have been transported by the Alibaba ferryboat to the other side of the ocean ever since.

The World’s Biggest Dynamic Economic Entity 

The “2016 Fiscal Year Annals” of Alibaba shows that it has become the globe’s largest dynamic economic entity, with a retail platform sale of 3.092 trillion yuan, nearly a tenth of the gross sales of Chinese retail spending in 2015. It took Wal-Mart, the global retail giant, 54 years to reach this figure, but merely 13 years for Alibaba. 

At present, Alibaba has established its three pillar businesses: core business, cloud computing, and mobile media entertainment platform and has set a long-term strategic goal to “serve 2 billion customers and 10 million enterprises globally” with an aim to steadily implement the Group’s three major strategies: globalization, rural development, and big data and cloud computing.

Besides Alibaba, other pearls in the gigantic business kingdom of Ma Yun, such as its key businesses “Ant Financial”, “Cainiao”, and “Koubei” are also reforming the business ecology in the financial, logistical, and catering industries respectively, exerting a profound and far-reaching influence on the commercial society of China.

Ma Yun’s entrepreneurial stories have inspired countless people and great batches of young Chinese have flocked into the start-up tide of the Internet and new economy.

Apart from his own businesses, Ma Yun also keeps expanding the frontier of the Alibaba ecosphere through mergers and acquisitions. The figures of Alibaba and Ma Yun loom large behind the brilliant Chinese internet enterprises of the present such as Youku, Tudou, amap.com and DiDi.

The New Legend of Charity

Ma Yun’s legend is continuing. He is dedicating more and more of his time and resources to philanthropy. Recently, in Alibaba’s “2016 Fiscal Year Annals”, Ma Yun delivered three more commitments in written form, eliciting overwhelming attention from the world. Two of the commitments have to do with charity: Ma Yun will contribute all his proceeds in Yunfeng Capital to the Alibaba Foundation or other charitable entities and promises not to apply for any applicable income tax deduction by means of the aforementioned donations. Yunfeng Capital is a private fund co-founded by Ma Yun and several other renowned entrepreneurs.

In 2010, Ma Yun led the establishment of the Alibaba Foundation. In 2014, Ma Yun and Cai Chongxin jointly donated an individually-held 2% share of the general capital of Alibaba Group to charity. This donation has come to become one of the largest individual charitable trust funds in Asia. In the same year, Ma Yun was ranked as China’s Leading Philanthropist by the 2014 China Philanthropists List of the Hurun Report with a total donation of 14.5 billion RMB, overtaking America’s leading philanthropist Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. 

Historic moments 

In Stockholm of Sweden in August 2010, Geely bought out the Swedish automobile company Volvo for the price of 1.8 billion dollars;  in 2012, Geely Automobile Holdings first made it onto the list of Fortune 500 Companies with a turnover of 23.3557 billion dollars as the only Chinese private automobile enterprise.

Classic quotes

1. Let Chinese cars run all over the world.

2. There is nothing mysterious about making cars: four wheels, one steering wheel and an engine, Bang! You have a car!

On December 17^th, 2015, the second World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen of Zhejiang province, and Li Shufu delivered the keynote speech as the only representative from the auto industry at the assembly.

Li Shufu said that Volvo’s self driving car would trigger a series of revolutions, including those related to the way customers live and travel. In this sphere, Volvo is an industrial leader.

On March 26^th, 2015, Volvo successfully conducted the autopilot test on an actual road in Beijing Xiliuhuan, marking the first time that a global brand displayed this technology in China. At the end of 2015, Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo, announced in Washington that Volvo would take full responsibility for any traffic accident incurred during the autopilot . This announcement put an end to the long-standing controversy prevailing in the industry. Soon after, Mercedes, BMW, and Audi also declared their decisions to take responsibility for traffic accidents happening during the autopilot  s.

In 2017, Sweden will set aside a 100-kilometer-long highway and 100 completely autonomous cars from Volvo for its citizens’ use. China’s Ministry of Communications is also consulting with Geely for the prospect of conducting scientific research cooperation in autonomous cars in China.

From the great losses Volvo suffered seven years ago to the present age one brimming over with confidence, the metamorphosis of this global top auto brand is owed to Li Shufu the Zhejiang businessman giving the keynote speech.