Top 10 influential businessmen of modern China
- By Zhang Junmian
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 30, 2011
Chen Guangfu 陈光甫
Chen Guangfu (1881-1976), also known as K. P. Chen, was a renowned Chinese banker in the 20th century, and the first businessman who introduced modern operating and management models to China's banking industry. In 1909, Chen graduated with a degree in business from the United States' University of Pennsylvania. Later in 1913, he served as the General Manager of the Jiangsu Provincial Bank. As a particularly influential entrepreneur in the financial and business circles in Shanghai, Chen founded the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank in 1915, the first modern private bank in China. With Chen's management efforts, the bank, which only had about 80,000 yuan in initial capital, developed into the largest private commercial bank in China within 20 years.
Chen also established a travel department within his bank in 1923, the first of its kind in China, which was later re-organized into China Travel Service (CTS). He was also the co-founder of the Paofoong Insurance Company Limited. During World War II, Chen, as the government's financial advisor, helped China obtain huge loans from the United States to solve the financial problems faced by the government.
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