Gaming pioneer has a touch for tech trends
By Diao Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-12 07:15

Millions of Chinese netizens live out fantasy lives in the virtual world - but the boss of the country's biggest online game company is firmly rooted to the ground.

Chen Tianqiao, the 34-year-old head of Shanda Networking and the first and only CPPCC member from the cyber industry, regularly works until 10 pm and queues up for food at the company cafeteria with his employees.

The self-made billionaire is equally humble about his new role as a member of China's top advisory body: "Being a new member means I should do some hard work to improve the innovation environment," he said.

In his main proposal, he calls for easier and wider financing channels for small- and medium-sized enterprises involved in innovation.

Shanda made headlines in China and the US when it raised $150 million in an initial public offering in 2004; and today, it is still one of the best-performing stocks on the NASDAQ.

Shanda chose to list overseas four years ago because the domestic capital market was not mature then, said Chen.

Eyeing a return to the domestic share market for Shanda, Chen said the comeback of private high-tech companies listed overseas is good for innovation that the country needs at the current stage of development.

Chen's experience of creating a blockbuster online game company is all the more impressive given that he says he does not understand much about technology.

But, said the economics major from Shanghai's Fudan University, "I can sense technology trends."

He proved that when he left a State-owned construction enterprise to set up a dotcom start-up. And when the bubble burst, he secured a gaming license from a South Korean company to start his dream run.

Not content with being a partner, he eventually bought over the Korean company. With a market value of $2.3 billion, Shanda now has a fifth of China's online game market.

But Chen's ambitions go beyond that. "Few Chinese companies do well in the culture industry, and Shanda aims to be a global leader in this sector," he said, adding that the company's revenues were almost the same as the total box office takings of the country's film industry last year.

The father of a 3-year-old daughter said work is his entertainment, although he occasionally reads literature, which he said helps him understand human nature.

After all, role playing in the virtual world is rooted in real life.