Rong Yiren
He was born into the most famous modern industrial and commercial family in China that emerged in Wuxi in the early 20th century. After the founding of New China, he resolutely handed over his business kingdom to the state for free. , and rebuilt a larger modern enterprise
Wuxi is a unique city in the south of the Yangtze River. More than 3,000 years ago, Taibo of the Zhou Dynasty traveled to Wu, based in Meili, and spread the advanced Central Plains civilization to the south of the "Land of Jingman", pioneering the trend. The county was officially established in 202 BC and was named "Wuxi" due to the depletion of tin and lead resources in Xishan within the territory. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Grand Canal ran from east to west, making transportation convenient. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became one of the four major rice markets in the Yangtze River Basin. In modern times, the opening of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway formed a "big cross" logistics framework, which was very conducive to the development of modern enterprises.
The Rong family is China's most famous modern industrial and commercial family that emerged in Wuxi in the early 20th century. It was Rong Yiren's fathers, brothers Rong Zongjing and Rong Desheng, who laid the foundation for the Rong business family. His uncle, Rong Zongjing (1873-1938), was a man of great talent and strategy, and his father, Rong Desheng (1875-1952), was slow in words but quick in deeds, down-to-earth and diligent. In their early years, they ran a bank business with their father. Later, they sold flour to the north and made huge profits. Then they jointly established Baoxing Flour Mill in Wuxi with their friends. In 1903, they became a sole proprietor and changed their name to Maoxin Flour Mill. In 1905, Zhenxin Cotton Mill was opened, followed by Shenxin Textile Factory, Fuxin Flour Mill, and Maoxin Flour Mill in Shanghai, Wuxi, and Hankou. After more than 20 years, the Rong brothers have entered the ranks of China's largest national capitalists and become the "flour king" and "cotton yarn king" famous in the industrial and commercial circles.
After the founding of New China, Rong Desheng insisted on staying in the mainland and served successively as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the East China Military and Political Commission, and the deputy director of the Southern Jiangsu Administrative Office. In half a century of business career, he has created a strong and globally distributed business family network.
Rong Yiren was born in 1916. After graduating from the History Department of Shanghai St. John's University in 1937, Japan was fully invading China. Rong Zongjing fled Shanghai to Hong Kong and unfortunately died of illness in February of the following year. At a young age, Rong Yiren began to assist his father in running the huge family business. He successively served as assistant and manager of Wuxi Maoxin Flour Company, director of Shanghai Hefeng Enterprise Company, director and manager of Shanghai Sanxin Bank, and gradually became a representative of more than 20 Rong family businesses. On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, other members of the Rong family, like other capitalists in Shanghai, left the mainland one after another, but Rong Yiren decided to stay. In 1956, after careful consideration, he handed over his business empire to the state for free, making outstanding contributions to the industrial revitalization of New China and winning universal respect. Chen Yi, the then Vice Premier of the State Council, as an old mayor, helped Rong Yiren to elect the deputy mayor of Shanghai. "Because he is both patriotic and capable, he should be elected as the national leader." After 1957, Rong Yiren served as deputy mayor of Shanghai and Deputy Minister of Textile Industry.
During the Cultural Revolution, Rong Yiren was in adversity, and there was no place for heroes. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Rong Yiren began a new life. In order to explore ways of international economic cooperation, with the support of Deng Xiaoping, a CITIC investment institution directly under the State Council, China International Trust and Investment Corporation, was established in October 1979. Deng Xiaoping hired Rong Yiren as the first president with the courtesy of visiting the thatched cottage three times. Soon, Rong Yiren used the business strategies of the Shanghai capitalists and the strong background of the Chinese government to develop CITIC to the point of invincibility.
In the first year since the company was established, Rong Yiren received more than 4,000 guests from 40 countries and regions, and more than 3,000 domestic people came to negotiate business. Rong Yiren spared no effort to recruit talents and hired former U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger, who had made great contributions to the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, as an adviser, which became a good talk among the people.
CITIC’s tentacles extend to various fields, with various functions such as banking, trading companies, legal, accounting firms, etc., covering loans, import and export trade, consulting, international bidding agency and other businesses, and in international economic cooperation We have accumulated valuable experience.
The first is to issue overseas bonds. In the early 1980s, Jiangsu Yizheng Chemical Fiber Project, a major project among China's 22 key projects, was about to be shut down due to insufficient investment. China is in urgent need of chemical fiber products, and the losses caused by the cancellation of this project are unpredictable. The Ministry of Textiles approached CITIC Corporation for help. After careful study, CITIC Corporation proposed a method of issuing bonds overseas. In February 1981, CITIC Corporation successfully issued 10 billion yen bonds in Japan. Today, various corporate bonds have been listed one after another, and people have become accustomed to this. However, CITIC's move at that time once caused controversy. People who are accustomed to the closed-minded thinking of "neither external debt nor domestic debt" really find it difficult to understand this. . Some people with more conservative ideas also disagree that bond interest rates are higher than general government loans and import and export loans, saying that CITIC has engaged in a money-losing business. But facts speak louder than words. Yizheng Chemical Fiber Factory proved that CITIC's choice was correct with outstanding benefits. This fundraising initiative was called the "Yizheng Model."
In the following years, CITIC Corporation issued bonds in different currencies in Japan, Germany, Singapore and other countries and Hong Kong, China.
In 1984 alone, it successfully issued four overseas bonds. It issued public bonds of 30 billion yen, 300 million Hong Kong dollars, 150 million West German marks and 100 million US dollars of bonds, which secured valuable funds for China's industrialization. assistance.
While issuing bonds externally, CITIC Corporation boldly develops leasing business. In 1981, CITIC, Beijing Mechanical and Electrical Company, and a Japanese company jointly planned to establish a leasing company, leasing 200 cars each from Japan for two taxi companies in Beijing, "Beijing" and "Capital". CITIC helped the taxi companies The company solves the foreign exchange problem, and the car company pays in RMB. Although this plan was criticized by some as a disguised import when it was first proposed, in less than two years, the cars leased by the two rental companies earned back all the money paid. Since then, the leasing business has become very popular in CITIC and has even developed into an important business system. This system includes: China Leasing Co., Ltd., China Oriental Leasing Co., Ltd. which operates in cooperation with foreign capital, the leasing department of CITIC Industrial Bank, etc.
In the late 1980s, CITIC launched a battle to acquire Hong Kong. On January 16, 1987, Hong Kong CITIC decided to acquire 12.5% ??of Cathay Pacific Airways. Later, it acquired 38.3% of the equity of Dragonair and acquired 20% of the equity of Hong Kong Telecommunications Company. The Hong Kong media exclaimed: China’s red capitalist Rong Yiren “acquired Hong Kong.” In fact, there were more than 1,000 Chinese capital system companies investing in Hong Kong at that time, with a total investment of more than US$25 billion, far ahead of Japan's US$12 billion and the US's US$7 billion, of which more than two-thirds were invested in CITIC. It is owned by mainland system capitals such as China Resources Group, Everbright Industrial, Bank of China, China Merchants Group, and China Travel Service.
In 1993, the Eighth National People's Congress elected Rong Yiren as Vice President of the People's Republic of China. This 76-year-old red capitalist once again played the role of a politician and once again created the The business kingdom was handed over to his assistants Wei Mingyi and Wang Jun.
Rong Yiren's life has always been switching between capitalist and politician. A Hong Kong reporter described Rong Yiren this way: "Tall, with silver hair, wearing a French double-breasted suit, and a straight back, which always gives people the feeling of majesty." In fact, the resolute and kind-hearted Rong Yiren's favorite quotes are: "Make high-level vows, make middle-level connections, and enjoy low-level blessings. Choose a high place to stand, sit on a flat place, and walk toward a wide place.
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