Ep. 24: The Man and the Firm behind China’s Tech Renaissance

In Ep. 24 of TechBuzz China, co-hosts Ying-Ying Lu and Rui Ma talk about China Renaissance Group, a tech-focused investment bank founded and led by one of the country’s most famed rainmakers, Bao Fan. While the episode covers the firm’s recent Hong Kong IPO, as well as some of its top deals, its culture, and several of its business lines, the episode really focuses more on Bao Fan himself-- after all, his career in many ways is the China tech industry. It is often said that everyone who's anyone in China tech is connected to Bao Fan or has done business with him. How has this man, who describes himself as a “bald Shanghainese dude who loves F1 and MMA,” applied massive amounts of ambition and aggression to succeed? Rui and Ying-Ying share that Bao, who stands at a memorable 5’1 and a half inches, was born into a diplomatic family in Shanghai and sent off to boarding school early. He attended high school in the US, college in China, and grad school in Norway; and worked in banking in London, New York, and Hong Kong. Globally minded but deeply Chinese at heart, Bao started China Renaissance in 2004 and named it after the nationalistic idea that China was on the cusp of a rebirth, and the vision that it was going to produce its own great investment bank. Fourteen years later, that conviction has turned Bao into a billionaire banker. Listen to the newest episode of TechBuzz China and join our co-hosts in exploring the man and the firm behind the series of stunning mergers between China’s top internet companies starting a few years back: Didi and Kuaidi; 58 and Ganji; Meituan and Dianping, to name a few. As of today, the newly listed China Renaissance has advised 700 transactions worth over $100 billion and has over 600 employees. What’s next? As always, you can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. Let us know what you think of the show by leaving us an iTunes review, like our Facebook page, and don't forget to tweet at us at @techbuzzchina to win some swag! Finally, a huge shoutout to our new listeners over at dealstreetasia.com.