When former dam builder-turned-property tycoon Pan Jun invited Bill Clinton to help promote one of his projects in 2003, he created a minor diplomatic storm.
It was the first time a Chinese entrepreneur had invited a former United States president to make a speech and not everyone was happy with the ideological implications. Pan wanted Clinton to come and indirectly promote one of the company's jointly owned projects in Shenzhen, Endless Blue.
The proposal was rejected by Beijing but Pan, chairman of Hong Kong-listed mainland developer Fantasia Holdings Group, insisted. Eventually, the event went ahead despite a lot of official tut-tutting.
'Most people think I am somewhere between stupid and misguided,' Pan said.
The word 'bold' is defined as showing a readiness to take risks or face danger; to be daring or fearless. In the business world, it can also mean being audacious and stepping out in defiance of the status quo. It is certainly a word Pan lives and works by.
Pan, 39, made his first bold move a few decades ago when he quit his comfortable government job in Yinchuan, in northwest China, and dived head-first into Shenzhen's real estate industry.
Listed in November 2009, Fantasia is small fry compared to some of its rivals. It had net profit last year of 373 million yuan (HK$424.7), compared with China Vanke's 5.33 billion yuan.