"Lei Feng is no match to Yan Jiehe," Yan said. "I would describe myself as a 'grandson' of the Chinese people and I will do my best to serve them."

Lei Feng was a Mao Zedong-era soldier, used by the Communist Party as a poster boy for selfless giving, modesty, dedication and other good qualities.

When China Pacific Construction made the Fortune Global 500 list for the first time this year, Yan felt he was in a position to appeal to the mainland's business people for patriotism.

"China's private companies will get better when the country gets stronger," he said. "As a successful businessman, I have the responsibility for contributing to the country and the people."

Yan, who has stepped down as chairman of China Pacific Construction appointed his son, Yan Hao, to fill the vacancy, is now focusing on philanthropic work, promoting Chinese culture and ethics.

As he addressed a forum in Nanjing in early July, Yan exclaimed: "I want to represent the Chinese private businesses to build up a good global image."

Despite becoming a key part of the mainland economy, privately owned companies have had trouble sustaining their growth, owing to lax management and a deteriorating business environment.

Nonetheless, Yan espouses a miracle cure for the millions of private firms - the age-old Chinese business ethos that goes: suffering is the blessing.

He believes sacrifice, dedication and faith are the elements that characterise his success.

Yan is typical of many of the first generation of super-rich mainland entrepreneurs who amassed their fortunes through hard work and bold spirits despite lacking good educational background.

He could not attend university because of his low social class but later attended a teachers' training college after the Cultural Revolution.

Graduating from Nanjing Normal University in 1981, Yan became a middle-school teacher of Chinese in Huaian, Jiangsu province, before he was recruited as a civil servant in the local government two years later.

He resigned from the government post in 1986 and worked for several state-owned companies as a senior manager.

Yan ventured into the construction businesses in 1996, only to find his own firm would lose money in the first deal due to a lack of business experience.

He remains cocksure, speaking in a loud voice and a bossy manner.

"I decided to lose 80,000 yuan [HK$101,120] rather than the originally estimated 50,000 yuan," he said. "The extra spending of 30,000 yuan on the project to make it better helped me win a good reputation and a big number of lucrative deals later on."

Today, China Pacific Construction has grown into a construction giant with 300,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly US$60 billion.

The company will make a foray into Europe in the near future and Yan said the outbound move would eventually help the world understand China's companies and traditional culture.

"As we tap the overseas markets, we must make sure that our company will impress the foreigners as the world's first-class builder," he said.

"We shoulder the responsibility of helping the country redeem its shyness following the business failures abroad of state-owned companies."

Yan said China Pacific Construction employees were amply rewarded, with pay 50 per cent higher than the average incomes of construction workers on the mainland.

Since 2005, when he became one of the mainland's richest people, Yan's belligerent tone has often resulted in controversies surrounding China Pacific Group's soaring rise.

"I am fully aware of the suspicions and negative comments," he said. "But I don't bother to care. We never did public relations work to please the media."