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Lai See

Ben Kwok

reality check before reality tv show: pan says he's no chip off the donald

Maverick Beijing property mogul Pan Shiyi doesn't think he's a bit like Donald Trump, the man who has chosen him to front the Chinese version of the hit business reality television show, The Apprentice.

Even though the Soho China chief executive made his name in property, has a knack for marketing gimmicks and is hardly out of the media eye, Mr Pan says of the New York billionaire: 'His image is very different from mine. On top of that, I hardly know him.'

'I am more like Richard Branson,' he explains.

This may have been an ill-advised comparison, given the fact that the bearded Virgin boss stars in his own (inferior) business reality show in competition with that run by The Donald.

Nevertheless, Mr Pan will sign a two-year contract with Mark Burnett Productions to present the mainland version of The Apprentice, beginning next month.

He was short-listed for the job along with Sohu chief executive Zhang Chaoyang and a Hong Kong tycoon (not Vincent Lo Hong-sui), but he only found out the result when he read it in the Sunday Morning Post last month.

Mr Pan will be paid 100,000 yuan per show, but in the end he has to offer a US$1 million job to the top 'apprentice'.

'I want to hire people like me - from a poor background but with many creative ideas,' he said.

Well, Mr Pan has at least a billion people to choose from.

russian roulette

Mr Pan's Shanghai counterpart, Shimao Group chairman Xu Rongmao, also likes playing the media game.

Last week, China's fourth-richest man - Forbes estimates his worth at US$840 million - organised a two-day junket to view the jewels of his property portfolio, including the 63-storey building in Nanjing Road that will house a five-star hotel and the extremely upscale Riviera Garden, seven blocks overlooking the Huangpu River in which flats are fetching 30,000 yuan a square metre.

Another interesting project is in Suifenhe, on the Russian border. This has commercial buildings on the Chinese side and a hotel/casino on the other side.

When we asked if they had the permit for the casino, the well-dressed lady showing us around suddenly lost her voice.

male order

China Mobile ran a press tour for mainland journalists to Hong Kong this week, the highlight of which was a 'meet the executives' dinner on the 68th floor of the Bank of China building.

For the first time local reporters were invited along and, to the disbelief of some, found that they were divided between two tables, not by nationality but by gender.

It seems the biggest mobile firm in the world is still pretty much male-dominated.

what's in a name?

Li Ka-shing is donating more than $50 million to St Paul's Co-education College, the most ever received by a local secondary school.

St Paul's is Hong Kong's top secondary school, comparable to Eton College in England or St John's in Shanghai. Many tycoons' children - including Mr Li's own Victor and Richard - attended the school.

Let's hope it doesn't end up in another naming rights fiasco.

wang plays a mind game

Lai See is a keen bridge player, but nowhere near as good as China Telecom chairman Wang Xiaochu.

He used to play regularly with a former colleague at China Mobile in Hangzhou and is said to have won many competitions.

However, since moving to Hong Kong he has had less time to enjoy his hobby, although he still tells colleagues it's a great mind-training game.

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