Road to success

Meng Xiaosu

Director-general of China National Real Estate Development Group

Born in 1949 in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, Meng moved to Beijing with his parents at age 4. During the "cultural revolution", he worked at the Beijing Automobile Works, later part of BAIC Motor Corp. After taking the gaokao, he studied journalism at Peking University. Meng had several jobs after graduation, including secretary to Wan Li, former chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee. He later founded Happy Life Insurance and director-general of the China National Real Estate Development Group, one of China's earliest property enterprises.