Kong Dan is a Chinese entrepreneur and economist. He is the chairman of the CITIC Group. He is also the chairman of CITIC International Financial Holdings, China CITIC Bank and CITIC Resources Holdings.
Education
Kong Dan joined the Chinese Communist Party when he was still a high school student in Beijing in 1965, just one year before the Cultural Revolution. Being one of the top students at school, he was appointed a student leader and was actively involved in advocating foreign language learning. In 1978, Kong was admitted to the graduate program of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he studied economics under Wu Jinglian, one of China’s most prestigious economists.
Career
After obtaining his masters degree three years later, Kong worked for the Chinese government until 1983, when he decided to step into business by joining the newly established China Everbright Group in Hong Kong. In 1984, Kong was appointed as the vice chairman and president of China Everbright Group, a core state-owned enterprise operating under the supervision of the State Council of China whose business covers all aspects of financial services, including banking, securities, insurance, and investment management services. In 1993–94, the group stared to invest in the Hong Kong capital market, acquiring listed companies and restructuring into China Everbright Limited and China Everbright International Limited. During his tenure from 1984–2000, Kong’s contribution to China Everbright Group can only be measured by the success of the enterprise itself. By the time he left, the group had transformed into a grand operation that owned and controlled total assets valued at approximately HK$200 billion. Among the non-financial businesses and investments of the group are information technology, telecommunication, petroleum, property development and investment, timber, and industrial and manufacturing operations.
CITIC, another major Chinese state-owned investment company, is even bigger and more complex than Everbright. Under Kong’s leadership since 2000, CITIC has grown into a large transnational conglomerate that owns 44 subsidiaries (banks) including banks in Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company has also set up branch offices in Tokyo, New York, and Rotterdam. CITIC’s core business includes finance, industrial investment, and service industries. By the end of 2006, CITIC’s total assets stood at RMB929.2 billion (US$23.9 billion) with an after- tax profit of RMB6.09 billion (US$0.8 billion). CITIC has made significant contribu- tions to China’s economic reform and along the way has established a good corporate reputation both domestically and internationally. To further expand CITIC’s core business, Kong believes that communication with investors and collaborations between institutions must be enhanced, so Kong will likely stay active in the spotlight of Chinese financial services in the near future.