Chinese business tycoons are earning a greater reputation and more say around the globe. That's the result of China's stable economic growth amid the world economic downturn.
In order to make successful Chinese entrepreneurs more well-known in China as well as abroad and reward their efforts, CCTV held an awards ceremony Wednesday evening. Ten business and economic leaders were given the CCTV 2012 Economic Person of the Year awards.
One winner of this prestigious award is Liang Wengen, the head of Sany Group. The company merged with German manufacturing giant Putzmeister this year and paid 360 million euros. The merger allows Sany to gain market access in more than 110 countries and regions. Liang also took the bold move and sued US President Barack Obama for blocking a wind farm project, and surprisingly announced to move its headquarters to Beijing.
Another winner is Jack Ma, the head of e-commerce giant Alibaba. His platform Taobao.com and Tmall.com created a historical 19 billion yuan in online sales on Nov 11, that's about $3 billion of sales volume in one single day. His Alibaba group also went private in mid 2012. Analysts say the former English teacher may plan a separate listing for his platforms.
Another winner is Yang Yuanqing, the head of Chinese computer giant Lenovo, which was recently crowned with the title of the world's largest PC maker. This comes after Lenovo became the world's second largest PC maker in October, 2011. Other winners include Ning Gaoning, the head of China's state-owned food company COFCO, Yu Liang, the head of real estate giant Vanke, and Wang Jianlin, the chairman of Dalian Wanda Group. 7 out of 10 winners work in the real economy.