Iris Ouyang

He Xiangjian, the Chinese billionaire who founded the world’s biggest home appliances maker Midea Group and was the victim of a recent botched kidnap attempt, is a man of few words. The man with a $25 billion fortune shares only 26 words with his staff and customers on Midea’s official website. But plenty has been written about He – China’s sixth-richest person, according to Forbes – since June 14, when five kidnappers with explosives held the 77-year-old for ransom after breaking into his luxury villa in Foshan, his and Midea’s birthplace in southern China. Local police arrested the suspects after He’s son – 55-year old He Jianfeng, who sits on the Midea board – sneaked out of the property

The Labor Day holiday in China provided a short but appreciated rebound for the tourism and travel industry in the country.  The five-day holiday period had been anticipated as a barometer of consumer confidence, with the authorities pinning their hopes on the festivities to unleash people’s purchasing power and help reignite an economy in the doldrums. Although far lower than a year ago, domestic tourism revenue from this year’s holiday (May 1 to May 5) almost quadrupled from the previous public holiday, which was the Ching Ming Festival from April 4 to April 6. People who had been cooped up at home because of measures to contain the coronavirus leapt at the opportunity to get away for a fe