Rong Yiren

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Rong Yiren (simplified Chinese: 荣毅仁; traditional Chinese: 榮毅仁; pinyin: Róng Yìrén) (born 1916 in Wuxi, Jiangsu, died on October 26, 2005 in Beijing) was the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 1998 and was heavily involved with the opening of the Chinese economy to western investment. It is from this second accomplishment that he gained his nickname, "The Red Capitalist."

[edit] Biography

Rong was born in 1916 in Wuxi, a town near Shanghai in Jiangsu Province. His father and uncle were the founders and operators of a flour- and cotton-milling business. He was educated at the Christian-run St. John's University, one of China's most prestigious colleges at the time. After graduation, Rong was assigned to manage a part of the family business and was running all 24 mills by the late 1940s.

At the end of the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the PRC, Rong chose to stay on the Chinese mainland instead of fleeing to Hong Kong or Taiwan as most businessmen did. His family was allowed to keep their business until 1956, when all private businesses became state-owned. His family was given $6 million of compensation. He was appointed the vice-mayor of Shanghai in 1957 and later served as an advisor on economics for the Communist Party of China.

During the Cultural Revolution he was denounced as a "capitalist." He lost a great deal of his personal wealth and was the target of death threats from the Red Guards, radical youth organizations aligned with the new social and cultural policies of Mao Zedong. In a situation typical to disgraced government officials during the Cultural Revolution, Rong was given a demeaning job as a janitor for a period of time. He received some political protection from Zhou Enlai and was thus protected from further abuse and mistreatment.

After the death of Mao Zedong and the end of Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping appointed Rong as an advisor for the economic opening of China. He set up the China International Trust and Investment Corp., or CITIC, in 1978, which was responsible for much of the initial western investment in China.

At the height of pro-democracy movement in 1989, he risked his life by asking the top Chinese leaders to negotiate with the students. After the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, many political analysis believed that he would receive severe punishment. But he was appointed to the ceremonial post of vice-president in 1993.

Rong retired in 1998 and died on October 26th, 2005. He is listed as one of the richest men in Asia, with family fortune of $1.9 billion.

Although regarded as a non-Communist during his lifetime, he was a member of Communist Party of China since 1985, according to official obituary in Chinese; yet at his request that his membership be unveiled only after his death, almost nobody knew about his Communist status even after his vice presidency.