11 Facts About Yuan Geng

Yuan Geng, born Ouyang Rushan, was a Chinese guerrilla fighter, war hero, spy, policy visionary, and serial entrepreneur on behalf of the Chinese state.

Yuan Geng was an early proponent of China's reform and opening up, and went on to create Shekou Industrial Zone, China International Marine Containers, CSG Holding, China Merchants Bank, and Ping An Insurance.

From November 1949, Yuan Geng pursued a career as an intelligence officer, seconded to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam in 1950, then as Consul in Jakarta from 1952.

Yuan Geng was imprisoned in April 1968 during the Cultural Revolution, in Beijing's Qincheng Prison.

Yuan Geng chose to start with a geographically limited area as the Shekou Industrial Park, which later became the Shekou Industrial Zone.

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The microclimate of freedom Yuan Geng fostered in Shekou was illustrated by the incident known as "Shekou tempest" in 1988.

In 1981 Yuan Geng coined the slogan “time is gold and efficiency is life.

Yuan Geng's slogan was inscribed on a giant billboard in Shekou and became a motto of the reform era.

Yuan Geng went on to create a number of state-owned enterprises which participated greatly in the prosperity of the Pearl River Delta, most of them directly to support economic activity in Shekou.

Yuan Geng followed up with the creation of Shenzhen Chiwan Wharf Holdings Limited, now known as Chiwan Base, as a joint-venture with Singaporean partners.

Yuan Geng was never very senior in the Party hierarchy, did not amass personal wealth, and was highly respected for his integrity, loyalty and humility.