刘鸿生:实业大亨的红与黑

The ups and downs of an old Shanghai entrepreneur

“刘鸿生这一代所取得的进步,实际上是我们民族文明进步的一个路标。我们没有比他们高明,更多的是要弥补。”

Liu Hongsheng is a legendary entrepreneur in Shanghai in the three decades from 1920s to 1940s. Liu was born in 1888 in Shanghai and his father and grandfather were all businessmen. Liu studied in the renowned Saint John's University and started as a sales agent for a British mining company. Liu was good at using various social contacts, including his family relatives, country fellows and school mates, to help his businesses. He even had good relations with the then government senior officers and this helped him gain contracts from the government. Liu tended to diversify his business scopes and had entered several sectors such as match, coal, cement, textile and port. Under his umbrella there were over 60 enterprises across over 20 sectors, with a total asset of over 20 million yuan in 1956. However, the anti-Japanese war in 1937-1945 interrupted Liu's business ambition. He moved to the inland city Chongqing, leaving all Shanghai businesses behind. Also, he was forced to donate a huge amount of money or material to help the then government to win the war. All these undermined Liu's businesses soon.