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Do the Right Thing, and Time Will Give You an Answer

Jul 19-2024   



This year’s commencement ceremony of the PKU National School of Development and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, held on June 22, brimmed with uplifting and inspirational speeches from professors, student representatives and special guests. One of them was delivered by Mr. Chen Dongsheng, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Taikang Insurance Group. In his heartfelt address, Chen shared three personal stories that shaped his initial aspirations and emphasized the significance of pursuing one’s ideals with unwavering dedication.

 

He remarked, “If you do not dedicate yourself to your ideals, they remain mere fantasies, idle dreams, or illusions. You must tirelessly pursue your ideals. Even if you are just a grain of sand in the vast ocean, you should shine brightly. Persistently chase your life goals and strive to reach the shore of success – that is your original aspiration.”

 

Born and bred in a county, Mr. Chen was admitted into the Political Economics Department of Wuhan University in 1979, after China reinstated Gaokao (university entrance exam). There, his life goal was to become a grand theorist of communism and his moral compass was deeply shaped by learnings in elective Philosophy courses, including thoughts of French thinkers Rousseau and Voltaire that championed “Men are born equal.” Before graduation, he took pains to engrave the Chinese character “begin” – taken from the Chinese proverb “A journey of one thousand miles begins with one step” - on a stone on top of a mountain on the campus. In 2011, Mr. Chen donated 100 million yuan to his alma mater to build an art museum, and the stone with his engraving was moved into it.

 

He started out working for an international trade research institute affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (now Ministry of Commerce) and authored over 20 articles in five years. In his next job as deputy editor-in-chief of a management publication, he led colleagues to rank Chinese enterprises by following the practices of overseas magazines like Fortune. The dominance of American and Japanese corporations in Fortune 500 made him conclude that a country’s economic power depends on the number of its large firms – a conviction he still holds dear these days. Hence his decision to leave the academic world and set up a Fortune 500 firm. A trip to Japan and other events drove him to move into life insurance business and set up Taikang in 1992.

 

The third story concerned Mr. Chen’s strategic decision for Taikang to offer services to China’s pensioners. Initially running into a wall, he was inspired by a visit to a nursing home in the US where a nonagenarian man was sweating out on a running mill and a group of octogenarian ladies were dancing ballet. Shocked by such lifestyle’s contrast to his parents’, Mr. Chen made up his mind to introduce such a business model to China to impact on the way of life and life attitude of Chinese elderlies. This aspiration has given birth to Taikang’s business in healthcare and nursing home, which, together with insurance and investment, constitutes the company’s three pillars. Taikang has slated for 40 nursing communities, of which 20 have opened, with each taking up 3 billion yuan of investment.

 

Chen highlighted that staying true to one’s original aspiration ensures that, despite changes and adjustments to life’s journey, the underlying logic remains consistent. This continuity signifies the ongoing extension of one’s ideals. He concluded with a heartfelt wish for all graduates, expressing his hope that by holding fast to their initial aspirations, they will achieve both career and personal fulfillment.

 

 

Do the Right Thing, and Time Will Give You an Answer

Jul 19-2024   



This year’s commencement ceremony of the PKU National School of Development and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, held on June 22, brimmed with uplifting and inspirational speeches from professors, student representatives and special guests. One of them was delivered by Mr. Chen Dongsheng, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Taikang Insurance Group. In his heartfelt address, Chen shared three personal stories that shaped his initial aspirations and emphasized the significance of pursuing one’s ideals with unwavering dedication.

 

He remarked, “If you do not dedicate yourself to your ideals, they remain mere fantasies, idle dreams, or illusions. You must tirelessly pursue your ideals. Even if you are just a grain of sand in the vast ocean, you should shine brightly. Persistently chase your life goals and strive to reach the shore of success – that is your original aspiration.”

 

Born and bred in a county, Mr. Chen was admitted into the Political Economics Department of Wuhan University in 1979, after China reinstated Gaokao (university entrance exam). There, his life goal was to become a grand theorist of communism and his moral compass was deeply shaped by learnings in elective Philosophy courses, including thoughts of French thinkers Rousseau and Voltaire that championed “Men are born equal.” Before graduation, he took pains to engrave the Chinese character “begin” – taken from the Chinese proverb “A journey of one thousand miles begins with one step” - on a stone on top of a mountain on the campus. In 2011, Mr. Chen donated 100 million yuan to his alma mater to build an art museum, and the stone with his engraving was moved into it.

 

He started out working for an international trade research institute affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (now Ministry of Commerce) and authored over 20 articles in five years. In his next job as deputy editor-in-chief of a management publication, he led colleagues to rank Chinese enterprises by following the practices of overseas magazines like Fortune. The dominance of American and Japanese corporations in Fortune 500 made him conclude that a country’s economic power depends on the number of its large firms – a conviction he still holds dear these days. Hence his decision to leave the academic world and set up a Fortune 500 firm. A trip to Japan and other events drove him to move into life insurance business and set up Taikang in 1992.

 

The third story concerned Mr. Chen’s strategic decision for Taikang to offer services to China’s pensioners. Initially running into a wall, he was inspired by a visit to a nursing home in the US where a nonagenarian man was sweating out on a running mill and a group of octogenarian ladies were dancing ballet. Shocked by such lifestyle’s contrast to his parents’, Mr. Chen made up his mind to introduce such a business model to China to impact on the way of life and life attitude of Chinese elderlies. This aspiration has given birth to Taikang’s business in healthcare and nursing home, which, together with insurance and investment, constitutes the company’s three pillars. Taikang has slated for 40 nursing communities, of which 20 have opened, with each taking up 3 billion yuan of investment.

 

Chen highlighted that staying true to one’s original aspiration ensures that, despite changes and adjustments to life’s journey, the underlying logic remains consistent. This continuity signifies the ongoing extension of one’s ideals. He concluded with a heartfelt wish for all graduates, expressing his hope that by holding fast to their initial aspirations, they will achieve both career and personal fulfillment.