Chang Zhenming is a master of Go, an intricate game played between two people that requires an in-depth mastery of strategy to win. It is usually called Weiqi in Chinese and originated in the country 2,500 years ago.
Chang comes from a humble family background and is burning with the desire to make a difference. He did. The 57-year-old chairman of steel-to-financial conglomerate Citic Group is believed to be the mastermind behind the US$36 billion takeover to make Hong Kong home for one of the largest state-owned enterprises in the latest wave of reforms on the mainland.
This would make Citic the pioneer in the latest round of Beijing's reform of state firms. Chang's decision, with support from top leaders who are his "chess friends", to let a firm that is considered the "son" in Hong Kong take over its "parent" on the mainland surprised the industry.
The surprise burnishes Chang's reputation that he always dares to make a difference in the mainland's bureaucratic system of state enterprises.
"Mr Chang is one of the most prominent business leaders with a strategic vision. A founder of Citic Securities, he is the key person to transform Citic Securities into a publicly listed company through a share sale in Shanghai," a manager who worked closely with Chang told the South China Morning Post. "He is always open-minded and able to come up with different approaches when facing challenges."
People who had worked with Chang praised his management philosophy and business vision, which permeates the entire Citic group, something he apparently picked up learning the intricacies of Go at an early age.
Chang, who won second runner-up in a national-level Go competition in the late 1970s, emphasises execution and disciplined decision-making based on statistical models and business analysis, which is rare in a generation who grew up during the dramatic changes on the mainland over two decades of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.