Yan Jiehe
Yan Jiehe, born in 1960 in Jiangsu, is the chief contributor of New Analects, President of the Pacific Business School, and Board Chairman of Susun Group.
For the past three decades, Yan Jiehe has worked as an educator, a government official, a private business owner and an entrepreneur who brought success to over 100 companies with diverse ownership structures. In 2005, with a total asset value of 12.5 billion Yuan, he emerged as a dark horse and ranked 2nd on China Fortune List. With his revealing thinking, artful language and profound philosophical understanding, Yan Jiehe created a unique corporate culture and is reputed as the most assertive Chinese entrepreneur and the most generous Chinese employer in the world.
In 1992, Yan decided to suffer greater financial loss to ensure reliable quality in a road construction project in Nanjing, which turned out to be a classical case of business operation. Led by Yan’s vision and business instinct over the past two decades, China Pacific Construction Group has developed into China’s largest builder of urban infrastructure and pioneered BT or BOOT models in construction projects in over 500 cities and about 1,000 industrial parks.
The glory of China Pacific Construction Group came from a most tragic failure in 2006. In 2005, due to the high-profile exposure of his second place on China Rich List, Yan Jiehe was suddenly pushed into spotlight and the public interest in Yan’s secret to wealth was fanned up, leading to challenge about his frequently used BT business model. Prompted by extensive media reportage about Yan’s aggressive merger and acquisition of 70-odd state-owned enterprises, commercial banks became watchful and exercised very harsh credit lines on China Pacific Construction Group, driving the Group into an almost desperate position. Confronted with the unexpected crisis, Yan Jiehe optimized the distribution of resources and reshuffled the assets through hefty downsizing. By tiding over the crisis, the Group has become more resilient and Yan more mature.
In July 2007, Yan Jiehe exit from China Pacific Construction Group and founded Huatuo CEO Forum Organizing Committee in Beijing as a platform pooling together resources, wisdom and capital. Huatuo CEO Forum was held in Shanghai respectively in November 2011 and November 2012, attracting the attendance of a galaxy of government and business leaders such as former US president Bill Cliton, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Australian Prime Minister John Winston Howard, former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, former Swiss National Bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As a private business owner, Yan Jiehe made utmost efforts to promote international understanding, political trust, economic cooperation and cultural integration.
On June 20, 2012, Yan Jiehe resigned from Huatuo CEO Forum Organizing Committee, marking yet another turning point in his ceaseless endeavors. He is now devoting himself to the development of cultural and education operations. Born in a scholarly family and with years of teaching experience, Yan Jiehe believes that going back to education as a cultural ambassador is his ultimate dream, in spite of his impressive 30-year track record in the business world.
New Analects, published in September 2012 by Xinhua Publishing House, reflects the gist of Yan Jiehe’s wisdom and thinking wrung out of his 30 years’ entrepreneurial experience. From a contemporary perspective, Yan Jiehe explores classical Chinese philosophy critically and renders modern interpretation. Imbued with insights featuring Confucian elegance, Buddhist benevolence and Taoist harmony, New Analects testifies to Yan’s transformation from a business tycoon into a wise, compassionate and peaceful-minded philosopher.
In 2012, Yan partnered up with CCTV to launch over the next three years a grand trio of TV documentary series depicting touching stories in the struggling yet legendary development of China’s private sector over the past decades. The soul-stirring historical episodes, as the vicissitudes of Yan’s business life have shown, confront untold pains and sparkle with wisdom and glory.
In November 2011, Yan Jiehe invested 1 billion yuan to set up Huatuo CEO
Forum Individuality Scholarship to promote social respect for individuality. In the second half of 2012, scholarships totaling 5 million yuan were granted in five pilot cities of Shijiazhuang, Guiyang, Lanzhou, Huainan and Guixi. In 2013, the coverage was extended to 26 cities.
After building up remarkable wealth and climbing to the peak of life, Yan Jiehe chose to go back to education with compassion and serenity. Based on a critical review of China’s contemporary education, Yan Jiehe advocates for an education system that honors and protects individuality. In the second half of 2013, the Pacific Business School invested by Yan Jiehe will be launched in Shenzhen, which envisions the introduction of an internationally-leading teaching faculty and development of practical abilities among students. By following an individuality-oriented education approach, the school is expected to turn out graduates who will soar high in the business world and contribute to national prosperity.
