After reading some books and articles, I really believed there was a huge potential demand in the market for bodyguards for two reasons: tycoons had higher requirements for their personal safety and the wealth gap in Chinese society was widening. Finally I realised my dream when I founded Shanghai FMS Business Security Consultation.

I love my job and it gives me a great sense of achievement after each assignment. The personal security industry is very new in China and I am lucky to be among the first batch of professionals.

Which of your clients has impressed you the most?

Our clients are either private bosses or entertainment stars. But we are much less enthusiastic about working for company owners, because if they want to hire us, they are either extremely high risk or they want us to be their hatchet men. Working for them can often lead to legal conflicts and expose us to a high risk of injury. Therefore we overwhelmingly focus our major efforts on stars. I have worked for many stars from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and abroad. The experience of working for the Korean actress Lee Young-ae and the Australian actor Hugh Jackman were most memorable. Lee Young-ae always had a kind smile whether she was with her fans or not. Hugh Jackman brought his own bodyguard here, whose professionalism stunned me. I communicated a lot with the bodyguard and learned a lot from him, even though he looked a bit fat, short and old.

As your company's personal security department manager, what kind of people do you recruit?

Many young people phone us hoping to work as a bodyguard. Many tell me how many people they can beat up at a time. But I tell them we have strict criteria for choosing candidates.

The basic requirements are a good physical condition, mastery of some kind of martial art, being tall but not too aggressive-looking. Besides these things, I put emphasis on their personality. They cannot be fickle and have to be loyal, as well as have a flexible mindset. So I don't think there are many people in China qualified to work as bodyguards.

This industry is still nascent and we did not have any professional training at first. I remember a few years ago we watched overseas films about bodyguards. We imitated how they dressed and copied the way they wore big sunglasses.

With more work experience we realised there were many details to grasp. For example, we should be polite and we should not ask stars for autographs. We must know what kind of distance to keep from stars, and we must be familiar with their cars as well as local road conditions in order to avoid traffic or to shake off people the stars don't like.

Is it a competitive business?

The competition is not severe but there are several companies like us in Shanghai. The private security industry does not have a clear legal status yet but the industry will be more open with a rule issued by the Ministry of Public Security to come into effect in a couple of months, which allows private operators to get into the bodyguard business. It is good news and our professionalism will be improved in the new environment.

Do you think about quitting?

Before, I thought I had to quit when I reached 30 because the bodyguard business was for young, strong men. But I don't think so now that I have met Hugh Jackman's bodyguard. I will learn more and grow more mature as this industry does in China. Maybe I will be engaged in training bodyguards or expanding the market because I understand and like this industry.