From a single restaurant in Suzhou 10 years ago, former mainland tax officer Wei Dong built Fu Ji Food and Catering Services Holdings into a popular caterer that fed thousands of guests at the Beijing Olympics.
Thousands of factory workers and university students in Suzhou, Shanghai and Beijing have also eaten meals the company provided, while organisers of the East Asian Games in Hong Kong later this year tapped it to cater for the event.
Now, instead of celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Hong Kong-listed company has come to a dramatic end by applying to wind itself up. That leaves an outstanding bond of HK$2.2 billion unpaid and thousands of workers and students uncertain about whether the company will continue to cook for them.
Wei, the founding chairman of Fu Ji, had no background in food or the restaurant business but graduated from the Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, majoring in taxation. He worked in the mainland tax bureau in Shanghai.
After leaving government service, he joined Nan Tong Development Zone Jin Cheng Enterprises Development and became the general manager of its Nan Tong Fu Ji Goodworld Restaurant.
In 1999, he set up Fu Ji - Chinese for 'lucky shop' - and one year later launched a restaurant in Suzhou called Suzhou Xinqu. It opened Shanghai Pudong Restaurant, its first eatery in the city, in 2001.