Economic tycoons cast stronger global influences

Once low-profile, Chinese business tycoons are earning a greater reputation around the globe. That's a result of China's stable economic growth amid the world economic downturn. In order to make more successful Chinese entrepreneurs well-known in China and abroad and reward their efforts, CCTV will hold an awards ceremony Wednesday evening. Ten business and economic leaders will be given the 2012 CCTV Chinese Economic Figure awards.

From world IT giants to global e-commerce behemoths, enterprises led by Chinese entrepreneurs are shaping the landscape of the world market.

Yang Yuanqing is the Chairman and CEO of Lenovo, which recently earned the title of the world's largest PC manufacturer. Yang is also one of the 20 nominees for the 2012 CCTV Chinese Economic Figure award.

Yang said, "I think the award winners should firstly be playing a leading role in enterprises and the industry. And he or she must have made unremitting efforts toward creating more profits for the economy and society. Meanwhile, they should also be ones who can shoulder more social responsibilities."

Lenovo is committed to building exceptionally engineered PCs, helping change the way people around the world use technology, in order to create and innovate a sustainable society.

Hu Wenming, another low-profile nominee for the award, took helm of the world's second largest shipbuilder in July. His company is a major designer and maker of the aeronautical support system for the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier.

Hu said, "China's shipbuilding industry is not a prosperous industry so far. So I think the reason that I was chosen as the award nominee is because the public have put their expectations for the development of China's marine economy on me. As was reaffirmed by the 18th Party Congress this year, I think China will develop its marine economy as a strategic plan in the next couple of years."

He also vowed to build more strong and advanced carriers for China and the world.

The annual CCTV Economic Figure Awards have been awarded to more than 100 business leaders in the past 12 years. The organizer of the awards called it a bridge and platform linking China's entrepreneurs to the world.

Guo Chenxi, Director General of CCTV Business Channel, said, "China's enterprises have integrated more into the world. And China's enterprises have become world-class enterprises. And therefore, Chinese entrepreneurs should eye the broad horizon. But there is a long way to go for China's enterprises to go abroad. So through the impact of our channel, we hope more communication and cooperation could be forged between domestic and foreign enterprises."

Jack Ma, CEO of the Hangzhou-based Alibaba Group, was also nominated for the award. Other nominees include Kaifu Lee, former president of Google China and currently CEO of Innovation Works, and Justin Yifu Lin, former chief economist of the World Bank.

The awards will be announced at 7pm Wednesday night at the new CCTV headquarters in Beijing.