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Eric Ng

Mark O'Neill

The rise and rise of Yang Bin, China's second-richest man and now a political rising star in North Korea, has never ceased to surprise people.

This is no mean feat for 39-year-old Mr Yang, who was born to poor parents in Nanjing and orphaned at five.

He studied and taught politics at a mainland naval college before leaving in 1987 to study at Leiden University in the Netherlands, where he gained Dutch citizenship and started a China-Europe textile trading business.

His big break came when he listed part of his personal business empire on the Hong Kong stock exchange in July last year.

Flower and vegetable grower Euro-Asia Agricultural (Holdings) had been a favourite of international institutional investors seeking cheap mainland-operating firms with strong profit ability.

Having amassed a personal fortune of about US$900 million (HK$7.02 billion), Mr Yang was named by Forbes  magazine as the second-richest entrepreneur on the mainland last year.

The estimate was based largely on his stakeholding in Euro-Asia, which rose to as high as HK$2.80 a share in May this year, almost double the issue price of HK$1.48 in July last year.

His fortune suffered a severe blow with the precipitous fall in value of its shares, which ended at a record low of 69 HK cents last week when trading was halted by the Securities and Futures Commission pending announcement of price sensitive information.

Speaking in Pyongyang yesterday, Mr Yang attempted to allay shareholders' worries that rumours that he may step down as chairman of Euro-Asia will deal another blow to the company's share price.

He hinted that while he is likely to step down, the company may benefit from his influence in North Korea.

'I will not retire as chairman of Euro-Asia in the short term. The shareholders need not worry,' he said. 'But, as a politician, I cannot continue to hold the post and must resign. There will be a period of transition.'

He said that the North Korean government would build 100,000 greenhouses to produce vegetables for export to Russia and Japan, with sales to be handled by Euro-Asia, he said, adding the business would command a high profit margin.

He emphasised his lack of experience as a politician by saying: 'I am a specialist in agriculture, not politics.'

The media has played a key part in Mr Yang's portrayal as a mainland tycoon, but the attention appeared to have been more damaging than good to Mr Yang.

For example, the Far Eastern Economic Review  has revealed his cosy ties with Liaoning provincial governor Bo Xilai, which might have helped Mr Yang get state bank loans for his private business undertakings at a time when most private businesses found securing state financing impossible.

Even a securities analyst has played a part in ringing alarm bells on the Yang success story.

UBS Warburg analyst Joe Zhang has questioned Euro-Asia's financial figures.

He pointed out that it claimed 2000 turnover which was substantially higher than that of Shanghai-listed A-share company Yinghao Technology, a firm with similar business scope and in which Mr Yang had once been a substantial shareholder.



Orphan overcomes humble origins to see business bloom