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Tycoon Shen Wenrong, founder of Chinese steel giant Shagang, dies aged 78

  • The steel tycoon, whose net worth was estimated at 3.7 billion yuan (US$509 million), died from an unspecified illness, Jiangsu Shagang Group, said

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Shen Wenrong, one of China’s best known entrepreneurs, died on Sunday at the age of 78. Photo: AFP
Daniel Renin Shanghai
Shen Wenrong, one of China’s most storied entrepreneurs and the man who turned a small-town enterprise into one of the country’s largest steelmakers, died on Sunday at the age of 78.

The tycoon, whose net worth was estimated at 3.7 billion yuan (US$509 million) by Forbes, died from an unspecified illness, his company, Jiangsu Shagang Group, said in a statement on Monday.

“Shen led Shagang and the team of cadres and employees to work hard towards their goal, before they successfully turned a little-known small enterprise with an initial capital of 450,000 yuan into a multinational company with total assets of more than 300 billion yuan,” said the statement.

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“The Shagang-style growth model has made great contributions to the national and local economies.”

Shen, a native of Zhangjiagang in east China’s Jiangsu province, began working at a local cotton factory in 1968. Seven years later he made the bold move of transforming the collectively-owned textile business into a steel mill, and was nominated to head the company.
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In China, a collective ownership model is often used by small firms in rural areas that deal with labour-intensive industries like construction and textiles.

Many of the businesses struck it rich after China’s opening up and reforms in late 1970s, benefiting from the breakneck growth of the country’s economy.

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