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By LU HAOTING (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-03 08:54

Beijing's ever-changing skyline will have another iconic multi-purpose complex next year as the Beijing Yintai Center climbs into the sky in the heart of the Central Business District (CBD).

The main tower of the project, the highest building on the Chang'an Avenue, features a five-star Park Hyatt Hotel crowned by a large cube reminiscent of a Chinese lantern. Express elevators sweep guests to the top of the building to the "lantern", the hotel's check-in lobby.

The project is the flagship of Shen Guojun's vast property interests in the capital - and what gives him greatest pride.

"I believe Beijing Yintai Center will contribute to a higher level of the capital city's architectural style when it is completed at the end of this year. I feel it is me who first initiated such a high-quality project and achieved its intended goal. That's what I am really proud of," says Shen, chairman and president of China Yin Tai Holdings Co Ltd.

Shen, 45, has built a diversified conglomerate over the past decade, with interests spanning department stores, real estate and energy projects. Total assets of China Yin Tai today have reached about 20 billion yuan.

The group has seven department stores in Shen's hometown in Zhejiang Province, one of the country's most affluent, where it has been the leading department store chain for six consecutive years.

The stores are operated by Hong Kong-listed Intime Department Store (Group) Co Ltd, a chain founded by Shen in 1998.

Shen recently won one of the Entrepreneurs of the Year Awards, in a program created by Ernst & Young to applaud outstanding entrepreneurs. The awards, sometimes referred to as the Oscars for the global business community, were started in the United States 20 years ago and have been expanded to more than 35 countries.

As one of the 11 winners, Shen attracted the attention of the panel of judges because of his innovative use of management and marketing techniques and insistence on building department stores and upscale luxury residential properties in prime locations.

"The main reason for China Yin Tai's fast growth is because I seize the opportunities brought by China's dazzling economic development. It is also because we have chosen three industries that all have huge growth potential in the country," Shen says.

"It is very important for a company leader to determine the direction of its future development. As long as you identify the right direction, you will be successful in the end no matter how many difficulties and challenges you may encounter. But if you choose the wrong direction, no matter how hard you try, you will never succeed."

He says China Yin Tai will continue to focus on three main sectors: department stores, real estate and energy resources.

"A large tree should have deep roots. Our company must have a solid basis as it grows," he adds.

Shen plans to increase the number of his department stores in Zhejiang Province to 20 to 25 in the next five years. He is also ambitious about expanding his department store chain around China.

"Driven by China's fast economic growth, people's incomes are also rising, which increases their purchasing power. I believe the retailing industry will continue to prosper in the coming five to 10 years," Shen says.

Shen is also confident about the increasing demand for better housing. But he will still focus on upscale properties in prominent locations.

Beijing is clearly where Shen's real estate ambitions lay. The Beijing Yintai Center, requiring a total investment of 5.6 billion yuan, covers 3.1 hectors in the heart of the nation's capital, with the hotel section jointly invested by Global Hyatt Corp, one of the world's premier hotel companies.

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