Larry Yung Chi-kin or Rong Zhijian (; born 31 January 1942) is a Chinese businessman and the former chairman of

CITIC Pacific CITIC Limited () is a conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. Its shares are listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. 58% of its issued shares are owned by the Chinese state-own ...

, a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

-based conglomerate. According to

Hurun Report Rupert Hoogewerf (born 1970 in Luxembourg), also known by his Chinese name Hu Run (), is the chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, a research, media and investments business, best known for its Hurun Rich List, a ranking of the wealthies ...

, he was one of the wealthiest people in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

, with a personal

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

of US$2.9 billion as of 2013.. He was in charge of CITIC Pacific when it made its first major loss in 20 years, US$2 billion, due to speculation in FX accumulators. This exposed the lack of internal management controls, which subsequently resulted in a temporary suspension of CITIC Pacific shares on the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is repor ...

and

police raid A police raid is an unexpected visit by police or other law-enforcement officers with the aim of using the element of surprise in order to seize evidence or arrest suspects believed to be likely to hide evidence, resist arrest, be politicall ...

s at CITIC.

Biography

Early life

Yung was born in Shanghai to businessman

Rong Yiren Rong Yiren (; May 1, 1916 – October 26, 2005) 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. Rong is known both in China and ...

, who later became the vice president of China during the 1990s. He graduated from Shanghai

Nanyang Model High School Shanghai Nanyang Model High School (), often referred to simply as Nanmo (), is one of the oldest modern Chinese schools, founded in 1901 by Sheng Xuanhuai, Minister of Transportation of the Qing dynasty. As "the beginning of public elementary ...

in 1959 and went on to

Tianjin University Tianjin University (TJU, ), formerly Peiyang University (), is a national public research university in Tianjin, China. The university was established in 1895 by Guangxu Emperor's royal charter to be the first university of China. It is now fu ...

, where he majored in

electronic engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...

. Yung's uncle, Paul, elder brother of Yiren, died with 34 others in Hong Kong's worst air disaster on

Basalt Island Basalt Island or Fo Shek Chau () is an island of Hong Kong and administratively part of the Sai Kung District. Together with Wang Chau and Bluff Island, it forms the Ung Kong () Group and is part of Hong Kong Global Geopark. Geography Basalt ...

on 21 December 1948.

Cultural revolution

When the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

started, because of his

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

background, Rong Yiren was exiled to Liangshan, in

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, in 1966. After the turbulent years, he became associated with Deng Xiaoping and was later appointed Vice-President of the People's Republic of China. His family's ties to the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

earned him the nickname "the Red Capitalist." With the support of the Chinese government and its capital, son Larry moved to Hong Kong and started businesses with the Chinese government as major

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

, becoming wealthy in the process.

CITIC Pacific

In 1990, Yung became chairman of CITIC Pacific, an arm of his father's company

CITIC Group CITIC Group Corporation Ltd., formerly the China International Trust Investment Corporation (CITIC), is a state-owned investment company of the People's Republic of China, established by Rong Yiren in 1979 with the approval of Deng Xiaoping ...

. He continued his work at the company until the Foreign exchange losses controversy led to his resignation on 8 April 2009.

Recent ventures

In 2007, Yung was reported to have joined the ranks of

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

speculators in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

with an investment of more than one billion

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

. In 2009, having left CITIC, he established Yung's Enterprise Holdings to pursue this line of business.

References

Rong: Red Capitalist
Sina.com, Sina News. March 2, 2002.
Rong: Betting One Billion on Shanghai Real Estate
Sina News. March 6, 2007.

External links

chinavitae.com: Biography

(November 1, 2005)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yung, Larry 1942 births Living people Billionaires from Shanghai CITIC Group people Hong Kong businesspeople Business and Professionals Federation of Hong Kong politicians Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2007–2012 Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Businesspeople from Shanghai People's Republic of China politicians from Shanghai Nanyang Model High School alumni Tianjin University alumni