New | Property mogul Wang Shi calls on China’s entrepreneurs to speak out

Chinese property tycoon and internet celebrity Wang Shi has urged China’s entrepreneurs to speak out more often in order to facilitate social reforms and to better protect their own interests.

He cited what occurred in Japan during the Meiji Restoration in 1800’s, an era when Japan ascended from a backward agricultural society to join the ranks of the world’s most powerful industrialised nations, but warned the biggest problem for China’s entrepreneurial class lies in its lack of independence.

“Until today, [our] thinking is not independent … We have a dependent mentality, that is to say [with] the collusions with officials. This is a tremendous problem for us,” Wang was quoted as saying.

“We ought to speak up [as a whole] like a social class … seek self-protection and pursue for our own rights,” he added.

Wang is among the best known property tycoons in China. His successful climb of Mount Everest and his controversial divorce from his wife in 2012 for a 32-year-old actress have raised eyebrows, triggering wide public debate.