Jing Shuping: Former ACFIC Chairman Passed away

On September 14, former chairman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) and initiator of China Minsheng Bank Jing Shuping passed away in Beijing at the age of 91.

The government praised Jing as the “excellent representative of the Chinese modern private entrepreneurs, famous social activist, great leader of ACFIC and close friend with the Communist Party of China”.

Jing was born in 1918 in Zhejiang. In 1939 he graduated from Shanghai Saint John University; then he entered the commercial field in Shanghai. After the foundation of the new China, Jing and Rong Yiren worked together for the setup of the ACFIC. In 1957 he and his family moved to Beijing and he took the post of deputy secretary-general of the ACFIC.

From 1993 to 2003, Jing Shuping was selected as the chairman of the ACFIC for twice. During his tenure, he contributed a lot to the development of private business sector in China.

The most impressive story about him was the founding of China Minsheng bank, which was the first non-state-owned national commercial bank. From 1996 to 2006, Jing was the chairman of this bank without taking any shares.

Jing also made great effort in urging the Chinese central government to issue polices helpful for the development of private companies. In the Working Report of the 15th National Congress of the CPC in 1997, the government said that the non-public economy was an important part of the socialism market economy. The non-public economy was for the first listed into the Chinese basic economic plan.

In 2004, the articles about private assets were finally added into the Constitution, after several times’ appeals of Jing Shupin and the ACFIC.