Opening Words

At the beginning of 2002, I was invited by a Beijing publisher to write the book, “Forbes China’s 100 - the top 100 wealthiest Chinese billionaires”. As the chief editor of the Fortune Magazine in China, I had met many domestic entrepreneurs, such as Mo Qizhong, Luo Zhongfu, Jiang Wei, Wu Bingxin, Li Xiaohua, Liu Yonghao and his brother Liu Yongxing, Han Wei, Yin Mingshan and the later new rich. Since I had interviewed most of these people and maintained good relationships with them, also keeping with me many documents and photos of them, the publisher believed that we should not have any problem publishing a book about them within a short period of time. Indeed, I had gathered considerable information of these billionaires on how they established their business empire from scratch and the challenges involved. To promote the vision of “accumulating wealth amongst people” and to stimulate the booming of the private enterprises in China, I had already planned to write biographies for each of them. So I accepted the publisher’s request without hesitation. It took me only two months to finish that book in two volumes with over 500,000 Chinese characters in total. Strictly speaking, that book was simply the result of information gathering on these Chinese billionaires.
However, on the Forbes China’s 100 List published in 2001 by the Forbes magazine in the U.S., there were still many new billionaires whom I was unfamiliar with. They showed up on the list like black horses which surprised me greatly, especially some of those names on the top 10 such as Yang Bin, Yang Rong, Xu Rongmao, and Chen Lihua.
In the meantime, Mr. Dai Jiming, an old friend of mine from the Photography Department of the Beijing Xinhua News Agency invited me to preface his booklet.
So with the above two reasons, I wrote small characters on my invitation letters by hand in regular script and sent it to several great Chinese enterprisers with whom I was not familiar. But toward the deadline of my work, I still had not received any reply from Yang Bin, one of the main figures in the book, the second name on the Forbes China’s 100 List. I was very nervous. I couldn’t imagine that Yang Bin, the second wealthiest Chinese billionaire, the first black horse selected by Forbes China, was missing from the book.
Therefore, through introduction of my friends working in Liaoning Province and particularly those working in the Agriculture Bureau of Liaoning Province, I successfully got in touch with Yang Bin. On March 5, 2002, I traveled to Shenyang. In the headquarters of the Holland Village of the Euro-Asia Group, I met Yang Bin. In my book of “Forbes China’s 100 - the top 100 wealthiest Chinese billionaires”, I had detailed description on this meeting:

[Photo: “On March 6, 2002, I visited Yang Bin together with Lei Shude, deputy director of the Agriculture Bureau of Liaoning Province. A photo was taken on Yang Bin in his office.”]

My first Impression

Although being the chief editor of financial magazines for many years, I had never heard of Yang Bin until his name emerged in the second place on the Forbes China’s 100 List in 2001. Yang was a black horse of fortune, suddenly emerging to the No. 2 place on the list of Forbes China’s 100. With US$900 million net assets, Yang Bin was only short of US$100 million compared to the US$1 billion wealth jointly owned by Liu Yonghao brothers, the No. 1 on the Forbes China’s 100 list. Forbes aggregated the wealth of Liu Yonghao brothers by adding up their overall stake in the East Hope Group, while the four Liu brothers had actually announced independence of individual’s wealth earlier. This made Yang Bin, with estimated US$900 million net worth, particularly shining on the list.
Who was Yang Bin? Not only that I had no idea about this name, none of the senior editors or financial journalists that I knew of in Beijing ever heard of this name. They also heard of this name only from recent Forbes China’s 100 List. Yang Bin seemed to have stayed outside of the media’s attention successfully all the time. Very few people knew anything about him. His mysterious background attracted a lot of curiosity from the public.
On the first night I arrived in Shenyang, I was arranged to stay in one of the villas. There were 54 villas in total, each with its different, elegant, and cozy European style. Each villa was built with an attachment of a glass greenhouse, with an area of 150 square meters where the villa owners could plant their favorite flowers, or even vegetables. The host told me that they would build up a total of 119 country villas in 2002 and 2003. There were two floors in the Dutch-style villa I stayed. On the ground floor there was a spacious living room, a big bathroom with a Jakuji pool, a dining room, a kitchen, a storage room and a garage. On the first floor there were four guestrooms, each with its individual bathroom. Mr. Zhou Xiang, the director of the Reception Office of the Eurasia Group, instructed his staff to put in my living room some of the elegant flowers cultivated from the greenhouse of the Holland Village. These flowers gave me some cozy feelings as if I were at home. Zhou told me that almost all farmers in Holland had one or two such villas. The average income of Dutch farmers who planted flowers, vegetable or grew cows was much higher than US$25,000 annually. I had never been to Europe before, but I enjoyed equally beautiful environment here.
The next day, accompanied by director Lei Shude, I went to the office building of the Euro-Asia Group to visit Mr. Yang Bin. The outlook of this office building was an exact copy of the palace of Holland Queen, typical Dutch-style architecture with four floors. Yang’s office was on the third floor.
It was quite difficult to interview with Yang Bin. He was low-profiled, even unwilling to meet with reporters. “Men are afraid of becoming famous, just as pigs afraid of getting fat.” Later he explained to me, “after Forbes included me on their list, I was bombarded by the phones and mails of the media. I am running an enterprise and I want to do real business. Honestly I don’t have enough time to entertain the requests from torrents of reporters. I hope that I have their understanding. ”
Yang Bin was indeed very busy. He had to travel all over the world to his branch offices for the updates every month. While in the meantime Holland Village was undergoing major construction projects. Renowned executives of major corporations from overseas were getting in touch with him for opportunities of cooperation. He was as busy as a bee.
Therefore, Bian Shoujie, the vice president of corporate planning and promotion of the Euro-Asia Group, told me that he was usually the person to decline media interview for Yang Bin. If Bian couldn’t decline the interview successfully, then Bian would guide the reporter to make a tour in Holland Village and made brief introduction about Holland Village. Bian then smiled ant said, since I got in touch with the president’s office directly through the help of deputy director of the Agriculture Bureau of Liaoning Province Lei Shude, Bian was not informed of my visit until I had already arrived in Shenyang from Beijing that night. So I had to apologize to Bian.
Lei said with a smile, “I know Yang is very busy and rarely interviews with reporters. That’s why I have to accompany with my old friend to visit him.”
Bian said to Lei, “You haven’t visited us for a long time. Mr. Yang wants to meet with you , too. So please come in together to talk to him.”
Yang Bin came to join us as soon as he saw the governor of Dandong city off. He said, “Hi! Lei, long time no see. It’s about time for you to care about our Holland Village.”
Lei said, “I am too busy with the agriculture affairs of the Liaoning Province recently. Tomorrow I have to head for Haicheng city. The whole province has to start with the plowing of the land for the spring season.” Then he turned to me and introduced, “but this time, I have to accompany with my old friend from Beijing to be here.”
Yang Bin was of average height and with a sturdy build. He was wearing a white Polo shirt, with an easy-going touch. “I am Yang Bin, welcome!” said Yang. He took out his thick hand to shake with mine. The first impression I had on him is somebody who is plain, passionate, and easy-going. He greeted me as if he was greeting an old friend of his. He invited us to sit on the grand sofa. While he himself sat on the smaller sofa on the side.
After settling on the sofa, the first thing he did was to hand several 555 cigarettes to us, then lighting one for his own. He said mockingly, “I can’t live without it.”
I replied with a smile, “I am also. But I pay tax to Chinese cigarettes!”
So we began our interview.
At the moment, Lei who was said to be a proficient amateur photographer, took photos for us as if he were a professional press-photographer.
Accompanied with the deputy director Lei, I interviewed Yang Bin in his big office with the format of questions and answers. The whole session was recorded accordingly. During lunch time, Yang invited Lei and me to the fourth floor where he enjoyed private lunch and took a nap most of the time. Three of us chatted over our lunch there. After lunch, Lei left for a meeting in his office and Yang took a short nap. In the afternoon, I asked another hour of questions to Yang Bin in his villa and concluded my interview. In the evening, Yang hosted a banquet in the glass-walled dining hall of the Tropical Rain Forest Restaurant by the Swan Lake of the Holland Village, in honor of his American guests--- the President of the Walt Disney Company (Asia Pacific) Limited and his staff. They visited the Holland Village to study the possibility of cooperation on tourism business. It was during this banquet that I met Ma Ning and Wang Nuo. Ma Ning was one of Yang’s friends when Yang received his advanced education in Holland. Wang Nuo was invited by Yang to be his harbor designer. These two people became delegates for the negotiation of the Sinuiju SAR of North Korea later on.
At 6 am on March 7, Yang Bin brought Ma Ning, Wang Nuo and one technical engineer from Beijing Capital International Airport to arrive in Sinuiju, to make an on-the-spot investigation of the airports and harbors there.
And I left by train from Shenyang to Beijing at 8 am on the same day.
Three days later, I mailed to the Holland Village my write-up on Yang Bin with about 15,000 characters in total. Several days later, they sent the approved manuscript back to me. So I included this write-up to my book of Forbes China’s 100 - the top 100 wealthiest Chinese billionaires.
Our one-day interaction didn’t give rise to exciting spark. I could strongly feel that he was cautious about me. I figured that maybe he was not happy to be forced to interview with me under the pressure of a senior government official of Liaoning province without prior notice. Normally, our relationship would end here. At most, one day, in some occasion, two of us would come across each other. Then we would greet briefly. Anyway, I was very busy in Beijing with my upcoming book of “Forbes China’s 100 - the top 100 wealthiest Chinese billionaires”.
On April 14, this book with over 500,000 characters was finally ready to go to press. At night, I was eagerly reviewing this book at home. Suddenly my phone rang. It was Yang’s enthusiastic voice on the phone, calling from the Holland Village, “where are you, Teacher Guan?”
“At my home in Beijing” I answered.
“Would you please write a book for me?” He asked.
Unexpectedly, he asked me to write a book on him, on how he became one of the richest people in China. This was a person who had been away from the focus of the media for so many years and had surprised the public with his No. 2 ranking on the Forbes China’s 100 List. His mysterious personal experience had attracted people’s curiosity.
“I have read your article on me. It’s better than those written by ordinary reporters. You’re a famous writer after all,” said Yang loudly, “I will prepare for all that you need for this book. You’d better come to Holland Village as soon as possible.”
I asked him the reason for such hurry. He explained fervently that he was about to visit Pyongyang soon and wanted me to join him on the trip. It’s really difficult for ordinary people to visit North Korea since it was a highly closed socialist country. So if I could visit there together with Yang, I would be presented with a golden opportunity that most people couldn’t dream of. Moreover, if I was lucky enough, I might have the opportunity to write some documentary articles on the current status of the North Korea. That would indeed yield a comforting harvest to me!
So I assented to his proposal. I never imagined that since then I stayed by Yang’s side for seven months consecutively. I therefore got involved with the still confidential negotiation of Sinuiju Special Administrative Region at that time, which would be described later in this book.
On April 15, I took the No. 11 express train to arrive at Shenyang train station. Receptionists from the Holland Village picked me up there. I was invited to stay in a villa in Holland Village. For the following seven months, that was my residence.
Several days later, various experts and friends of Yang Bin arrived at Holland Village one by one. It was then that I became aware of the fact that Yang was negotiating on a big project with North Korea, something about Sinuiju.
On April 22, some delegates and I arrived at Pyongyang via Sinuiju. We checked in to the Yanggakdo Hostel which was located on the central island of the Taedong and where later I accompanied Yang many times to “place bets”.
On April 23, Yang arrived at Pyongyang by private plane, which was reported extensively on the television and local newspapers in North Korea that “Yang Bin led his survey group” to arrive at Pyongyang. In fact, that was for the negotiation related to Sinuiju Special Administrative Region. Yang and his group were invited to stay at the Moranbong Ambassador Hotel by North Korean administration.
Since then, as the biographer of Yang Bin, I became the witness, record-keeper and participant of the negotiation on Sinuiju Administrative Region.
From April 14 to October 28, for a period of more than six months, I stayed at Holland Village in Shenyang. During this period, I accompanied Yang and his group to Pyongyang twice to attend the negotiations on Sinuiju Special Administrative Region. I also joined Yang’s negotiation group twice in Holland Village to welcome the arrival of the delegates from North Korea, to continue the discussion on various issues related to Sinuiju Administrative Region, being there all the way till witnessing the completion of legal documents on “the Agreements” and “the Fundamental Laws”. At 5 am on October 4, Yang was “summonsed” by the police in China. I stayed there until the night of Oct 28, being the very last guest to leave Holland Village.
During my stay at Holland Village, I interviewed Yang’s aunts, uncles, his classmates from primary school, high school and military academy, his friends from Holland, several vice presidents of the Euro-Asia Group and the general managers of Euro-Asia’s subsidiary companies. I also had two cordial talks with Yang’s wife Pan Chaorong when she brought two little sons to Shenyang to visit her husband.
I was indeed observing him from a close distance for more than half a year. Originally I planned to conclude this biography with some of the initial activities he engaged in after being the Chief Executive of Sinuiju Special Administrative Region. According to the schedule, Ma Ning and I would join him in the Conference of Entrepreneurs on October 7 and be received by Kim Dae-Jung, the president of the South Korea. On the 9th, we would visit Japan. On the 25, we would hold the Handover Ceremony in Sinuiju. I would record all of the above events. Then with the formal establishment of Sinuiju SAR government, I would conclude my work on Yang’s biography. However, what happened later was far beyond my imagination.
At 5 am on October 5, 2002, Yang Bin was summonsed by the police in Shenyang. On November 27, he was formally arrested under the charges of economic crimes including fictitious investment, bribery, contractual fraud, illegal use of agricultural land etc.
Some friends told me that although there are many mysteries surrounding Yang Bin, such as mysteries about his family background, mysteries about his education abroad, and mysteries about his wealth creation, “but we believe that you can give us an answer to all the above with your first-hand information on him.” But all of this doesn’t matter any more. What the people most concerned now was the mysteries about how he became the Chief Executive of Sinuiju, which could provide the world with the first-hand information on the economic reform and opening policy of the North Korea and the peace and wellbeing of the Northeast Asia in general. As to the questions of whether he was right or wrong, all these experiences and lessons, let’s let politicians, diplomats, historians and economists make their comments.
I couldn’t make up my mind about my friends’ words. After all, this “emergency” arrived so abruptly that I needed a period of time to settle my thoughts. After all, I was not an expert on international issues. I was only an ordinary writer and was engaged in the whole process of the event. I was not so sure whether I could finish this book successfully and objectively.
One of my friends tried to encourage me and said, “Just seek the truth from the facts.”
It occurred to me that my teacher, Mr. Yang Xianzhen, once told me, “In any time or any occasion, no matter what we do, we have to seek the truth from the facts seriously. That is the most important thing for us as human beings. We need to follow this guideline no matter when we are getting along with other people or when we are studying.” On second thought, I decided to start my work.