SOHO | | RG21

(Photo: wikimedia)

by David Parmer

So what is interesting about Zhang Xin? Her storied rise in post-Maoist China has become the stuff of legend. Raised during the Cultural Revolution she moved to Hong Kong at 14, worked in factories, saved enough money for a one-way ticket to England for English study, graduated from Sussex University and went on to Cambridge. After graduation, she joined Goldman Sachs, who eventually sent her back to China where she met and married real-estate developer Pan Shiyi. Fast forward: business picks up, she is now CEO and co-founder of property-developer SOHO China. She has a net worth of $3.6 billion and she is one of the richest women, not just in China, but in the world.

That’s the story. She seems willing to repeat it again and again to journalists who generally focus on the same range of questions about her life and wealth. (Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are probably no strangers to the same questions.) It appears that she neither seeks nor shuns the limelight, but rather treats it as if it is her duty to be interviewed. She is both gracious and forthcoming in her interviews. Perhaps this is because, in a sense, she IS the SOHO brand, much as Richard Branson IS the Virgin brand. And if appearances are what they seem, she is immune to the high-octane ego rush of fame and fortune.

So what is interesting about Zhang Xin? Her statements show a keen concern for the future of her country, and a firm belief in its inevitable extended democracy. In a BBC Hard Talk interview she notes the tremendous power of social media in China as a force for good and an antidote to corruption. Millions of Chinese are on now on Weibo, China’s Twitter. She describes social media like Weibo as the: “single most powerful tool pushing the Chinese society becoming more open, more progressive more transparent.”

As for transparency, SOHO puts it into practice. It its 2012 Annual Results, SOHO’s, co-founder Pan Shiyi states:

“Honesty is the most powerful guarantee to our development. Honesty is our determination to ensure that every matter is subject to transparency. Only transparency can deter and prevent corruption…In 2012 we undertook two endeavors. The first was to ensure that all our sales prices and rental prices are public and transparent prices without even one cent of discount offered. We have persevered in this process and results are favorable. Each of our clients is treated equally…Only transparency can ensure true fairness and equality.”

So what is interesting about Zhang Xin? The rags-to-riches story? The woman of immense means? The charming interview subject? Or a Chinese woman with a vision of twenty-first century China that is dynamic, democratic and transparent?

BBC Hard Talk, Zhang Xin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7as_ZfQkyo0

SOHO China 2012 Annual Results: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woaQkrmGzIk

Soho China Website : http://www.sohochina.com/