Background
Xu Ming was born in Dalian city in Liaoning Province on the northeastern coast of China.
明 徐
Xu Ming was born in Dalian city in Liaoning Province on the northeastern coast of China.
Xu Ming earned his masters degree at the Shenyang Institute of Aviation Industry and his MBA at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics.
One of his earliest jobs involved selling Chinese New Year greeting cards to his fellow students at the university. He started his career in 1990 working for the Foreign Economic and Trade Commission for Zhuanghe City. In 1991, he decided to leave his stable government position and founded several construction companies, two of which were awarded contracts on two earthwork projects, Shengli Square, in front of the Dalian Railway Station and Dalian Xinghaiwan Square. Both of these highly successful projects earned him high praise from leading officials of the Dalian municipal government, enabling him to get other similar contracts in the ensuing years. In 1992, Xu Ming founded Dalian Shide Group Co. Ltd, headquartered in his hometown of Dalian city.
In August 1995, Xu Ming decided to move into the plastics industry, introducing a plastics project from Europe that led to the creation of his Shide Plastic Industry Corporation and later the Shide Kingdom of Plastic Sectional Materials. In January 1998, Xu decided to expand his company, investing 600 million yuan (US$72 million) to construct the second, third, and fourth phases of the company. In December 1998, the company received ISO9002 quality control system certification, the first enterprise in China to achieve this. Dalian Shide is now a leading manufacturer of chemical building materials and PVC sectional materials in the world. The group is also involved in petrochemical production and home appliances and offers services in the insurance and healthcare industries.
Xu Ming decided to enter the realm of sports in January 2000, obtaining full ownership of the newly established Dalian Shide Football Club. Dalian Shide is widely considered to be the most successful club in Chinese football history, winning seven titles in the inaugural Jia-A league and an additional title in 2005 in the newly formed Chinese Premier League.
Xu has become one of the most prominent figures in the attempt to make Chinese football internationally competitive, as his club seeks to earn an international reputation as one of the best sources of football talent for China and increasingly, the rest of the world. During recent years, Xu Ming has also diversified into the financial services sector, holding stakes in six companies and becoming the major shareholder of Dalian Commercial Bank in 2001. In 2003, Shide Group, along with Invesco Funds Co., established China Great-Wall Jingshun Funds Management Co. Shide Group continuously searches for new business ventures for expansion with a mission to ‘improve the living environment of humankind, and to enhance the quality of life for all humankind.’
Acknowledging his prominent role in the new Chinese economy, Xu Ming is also recognized as one of the leading charitable entrepreneurs in China through scholarship programs, community involvement, and poverty support in underdeveloped regions in China. Xu is married to Wen Chunru, the daughter of China’s current premier, Wen Jiabao, the second most important figure in the country. He has one son and his hobbies include art collecting.
