Pan Shiyi is known as a vanguard in China, both for spearheading a new generation of private entrepreneurship and for advocating the SOHO (Small Office-Home Office) mode of integrating living and working spaces. The projects he has undertaken as Chairman of SOHO China have achieved tremendous commercial success, largely thanks to his flair for marketing and foresight in anticipating the needs of Chinese investors and small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, his distinct way of approaching life and work with optimism, levity, and candor has made him a public role model and a star in the eyes of the media.

Pan Shiyi was also one of the first proponents of the digital revolution and social media in China. He has been successful in promoting the SOHO brand through his personal blog (http://panshiyi.sohoxiaobao.com), which is hosted on over ten major portals and which has received tens of millions of visits. He uses the blog and online chat, as well as many keynote speeches at such prestigious conferences as World Economic Forum, Asia Leadership Forum and Boao Forum for Asia, to create lively forums for public discourse on industry trends and broader social issues.

Pan Shiyi was born in a rural village in Tianshui in Gansu Province in 1963. Following his graduation from university in 1982, he worked at the former Ministry of Petroleum Industry, until he decided in 1987 to venture to Shenzhen and Hainan to embark upon a career in real estate. Later, in 1992, he co-founded Beijing Vantone Co., Ltd., a leading developer now listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. To many people in China, Pan Shiyi´s life is a modern day success story of a young man who grew up in an impoverished area of Western China and who was able to advance to the forefront of an entire industry by following his dreams, exhibiting strong business savvy and entrepreneurial spirit, and seizing the opportunities made possible by China´s Reform and Opening.

Pan Shiyi is deeply involved in public welfare through the charitable organization he co-founded with Zhang Xin, SOHO China Foundation, which is guided by the mission of advancing education as a means for alleviating poverty.

Select Awards and Recognition

• Selected as deputy to Beijng´s People´s Congress, 2007;
• Honored as a "Model Income Tax Payer" by the Beijing Taxation Administration Bureau, 2007;
• Boao Forum for Asia, speaker and moderator, since 2002;
• Asia Business Council, member, 2006;
• Named one of the "Top Ten Influential Figures in the Real Estate Industry" in China by Sina.com, 2003-06;
• Named one of "25 Most Influential Business Leaders in China," FORTUNE (China), 2005
• World Economic Forum, speaker 2003-2004;
• Asia Leadership Forum, speaker 2004;
• Named Asia´s Under-50 Movers and Shakers by Asia Inc, along with Zhang Xin, 2003

Publications
• What I Took a Life to Find (2008)
• Pan Shiyi´s Blog (2005)
• Chop Suey (2004)
• Go West 25o, Photo Album (2003)
• The Teacup Is Full, Collections of Essays (2001)
• Complain About Pan Shiyi, Criticize SOHO New Town (2001)

Media Commentary

“Pan Shiyi is a star both inside and outside the world of real estate.  A certain charm enables him to achieve success in all his endeavors, no matter the area, whether it be the SOHO concept, acting in movies, publishing, or TV hosting. The more active he is, the more in fashion he becomes. At the same time, his main avocation is crystal clear, a series of SOHO-branded buildings famous in Beijing, which have ranked at the top of Beijing’s best-selling list for years.” — Huaxia.com

“In the world of Chinese real estate, Pan Shiyi is undoubtedly another species. Again and again, he finds himself in a whirlpool of controversy, rarely playing the hand dealt to him in the ‘common-sensical’ manner… Every single one of Pan Shiyi’s architectural masterpieces has become a landmark, ushering in a new wave of architectural innovation into the city. Based on this unique understanding of business, he does not naively pursue scale and volume, rather focusing on the long-term value of architecture and stressing doing Chinese, contemporary architecture. Therefore all the projects he develops have been unprecedented commercial successes.” — People´s Daily

“Mr Pan is a sort of model worker for the new entrepreneur in China - a Lei Feng of the capitalist era, if you will.” — South China Morning Post