Wang Guangying

Wang Guangying (; August 1919 – 29 October 2018) was a Chinese entrepreneur and politician. He was one of the most prominent "red capitalists", a title bestowed on him by Premier Zhou Enlai. He founded Modern Chemical Works in the 1940s and served as Founding Chairman of China Everbright Group in the 1980s. His sister Wang Guangmei was the wife of President Liu Shaoqi, and for that connection he was persecuted and imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution, when Liu was ousted by Chairman Mao Zedong. Wang was rehabilitated after Mao's death and served as Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Vice Chairperson of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Early life and career Wang was born August 1919 into a family of officials in Beijing, Republic of China. His father Wang Huaiqing was educated in Japan and served in the Beiyang government. His mother Dong Jieru was from a wealthy and progressive family. Three of her family members were executed in 1927 together with Li Dazhao, co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Wang Guangying was the sixth of 11 children (including three half-siblings), two years older than Wang Guangmei.

He studied at the Department of Chemistry of Fu Jen Catholic University of Beijing and graduated in 1943. Soon afterwards he and a friend founded the Modern Chemical Works in Tianjin. during which he played a significant economic role as well as a major diplomatic role as an intermediary between China and the West. He invited many foreign dignitaries to visit Everbright, including American leaders Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and Walter Mondale, Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, and Indonesian President Suharto.

From 1983 to 1993, Wang served two terms as Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). From 1993 to 2003, he served two more terms as Vice Chairperson of the National People's Congress (NPC). For twenty years in the two high-ranking positions, he performed mainly diplomatic roles and received many visiting foreign leaders.

Wang died in Beijing on 29 October 2018, at the age of 99.