Hardworking Wang flies high with budget carrier

Spring Airlines founder plans listing but resists big investors

Wang Zhenghua, founder of the nation's only budget airline, built his travel agency empire from an investment of only 3,000 yuan in the early 1980s.

That may sound like a typical start-from-scratch millionaire story that has been repeated all over the world. What makes Mr Wang unusual as an entrepreneur is his determination to remain independent and to reject investment overtures from global carriers such as Singapore Airlines and investment banks.

Work is second nature to the man who remains the majority shareholder of Spring International, the mainland's biggest domestic travel agency, and Spring Airlines, the Shanghai-based budget carrier. Ask him about his favourite destination and palm-fringed tropical islands are not mentioned. Instead he shrugs: 'My office, I guess.'

The 64-year-old was not always a corporate high-flier. As an official in Shanghai's Changning district in the 1980s, one of his job descriptions was to allocate job opportunities to educated young people. During the 1960s, hundreds of millions of students were sent to villages to 'learn' from the farmers as part of the Cultural Revolution.

When these re-educated youth came back to town, they were offered ordinary jobs in shops or motels. But Mr Wang said he wanted to give them better choices. So he organised career seminars and levied one yuan as an admission fee.

For those who wanted to join an apprenticeship scheme, he charged more. This helped him to raise his first capital - 3,000 yuan.