[Editor’s Note]
“Historical Records · The Biographies of Huo Shih” is the earliest historical book dedicated to narrating outstanding figures engaged in “huo huo” (commercial) activities. Economy is a pioneering work under the cover of the book.”
A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping the structure of the world economy and reconstructing the global innovation landscape. In this great change, all the stories of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, and workers who have the courage to innovate and act are worth remembering. We launched the “Finance and Economics Weekly · Commodity Biographies”, which tells the stories of business figures in the tide of globalization.
They set up a biography for the times, and we set up a biography for them.
In Yabuli in the summer night, it rained steadily, and after the excitement, the silence was restored.
The annual Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum ended, and the media and guests dispersed. Old friends Mao Zhenhua, Chen Dongsheng and Tian Yuan were still having a good chat in Club Med. This is a rare time for them to get together in a year.
If you turn back time 30 years ago, they are all national civil servants who rode bicycles to work in Beijing-Mao Zhenhua who lives in Zhongnanhai often rode bicycles after get off work , Passing through Tiananmen Square, along Chang’an Avenue all the way to Chen Dongsheng’s home in Dongdan. The two exchanged ideas about entrepreneurship broadly, covering the same quilt late at night, often talking until dawn, and then riding back to work.
Chen Dongsheng referred to these people as the “92 faction”, referring to the elites in the system who went to sea to do business under the wave of 1992. In 1992, a large number of intellectuals in government agencies and scientific research institutes were inspired by Deng Xiaoping’s southern speech and took the initiative to set up businesses in the sea. Chen Dongsheng, chairman of Taikang Insurance Group, Tian Yuan, founder of China Mid-term Investment Co., Ltd., and Vantone Real Estate, were formed. Entrepreneurs of the “92 School” represented by Feng Lun and Pan Shiyi, founder of SOHO China. They uphold modern concepts and international vision in business operations, and they are also a driving force for China’s economic growth in the 1990s.
In 1992, Mao Zhenhua went to the sea from the Research Office of the State Council, a central agency, and benchmarked the US rating agency Moody’s to establish the first credit rating company approved by the People’s Bank of China—China Credit Securities Appraisal Co., Ltd.; Chen Dongsheng resigned from the Development Research Center of the State Council and set up the Guardian Auction Company.
That year Mao Zhenhua was 28 years old and Chen Dongsheng was 35 years old. The two young men were full of enthusiasm and aimed to fill the gap in China’s business field. Newborn calves are not afraid-they still don’t know the difference in industry choices means so many differences. They have never thought that in the next 30 years, their destinies are closely intertwined, and they have walked out of different life trajectories.
“The Chinese version of Moody”
On the morning of the opening of the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum, Mao Zhenhua also held the “China Chengxin A keynote speech was delivered at the International 2021 Mid-term Credit Risk Outlook Seminar. After the speech, he hurried to Yabuli. This is the annual “event” of China Chengxin, hosted by China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Chengxin International) and sponsored by Moody’s.
In the course of development of China Chengxin, Moody’s has always been a name that cannot be avoided. At the beginning of his business, Mao Zhenhua hoped that China Chengxin would become the “Moody of China”, but he did not expect that this would be a long and tortuous “marriage.” 
Mao Zhenhua, founder and chairman of China Chengxin Group, and chief economist of China Chengxin International Photographed by reporter Jiang Mengying
In mid-June, journalist Meet Mao Zhenhua in Beijing Yinhe SOHO. The 57-year-old Mao Zhenhua now uses the company-related identity as the founder and chairman of China Chengxin Group and the chief economist of China Chengxin International. Looking back on the history of entrepreneurship, everything is still vividly visible.
In the early 1990s, Moody’s downgraded China’s sovereign rating, which aroused the attention of domestic senior officials. Moody’s sent a vice president to negotiate with relevant leaders of the State Council, and Mao Zhenhua, who worked in the State Council Research Office, prepared materials. He discovered that this so-called “Vice President” is not the same thing as the “Leader” in Chinese officialdom. At best, he can only be regarded as a project manager. He thought to himself that, as a purely commercial company, Moody’s has such a big influence, which is really exciting.
Mao Zhenhua did what he said, and soon began to write a report with reference to relevant information from Moody’s and other foreign rating companies, and apply for a license from the People’s Bank of China. “Innovation is the first to imitate”-the first-class companies must follow it, learn from it, and follow it.
When reporting to the head of the People’s Bank of China, Mao Zhenhua gave a generous speech and finally said: “This is the international practice of a market economy.”
In October 1992, China Chengxin Securities Appraisal Co., Ltd. was established, becoming the first nationwide credit rating agency approved by the People’s Bank of China. 
Deng Xiaoping’s southern inspection in 1992 The whirlwind formed a strong appeal, and a large number of intellectuals in government agencies and scientific research institutes took the initiative to set up businesses in the sea. Journalist Jiang Mengying Photographed at the permanent venue of the Yabuli Entrepreneur Forum-China Entrepreneur Museum
This is the atmosphere of the time. Deng Xiaoping’s southern inspection whirlwind formed a strong appeal. In a market that was beginning to open in chaos, all new things that conform to the direction of the market economy are so popular.
However, the energetic Mao Zhenhua soon discovered that he was confident that he had plunged into a market with “innate deficiency”-China’s bond market has not yet taken shape and lacks independence. The main bond issuer. The reason why the United States is able to create internationally influential bond industry rating companies such as Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch is because the United States is the most developed country in the world’s bond market.
“Debt” is the main object of the rating business. In mature developed markets, the bond market is the largest market in the capital market, far surpassing the stock market. Investors need to understand the risks of various bonds, which has given birth to the rating market. In China in the 1990s, apart from national debt, there were only a small number of corporate bonds approved and issued by relevant state departments. These debts were of the nature of government bonds and were issued in the form of administrative apportionment.
Mao Zhenhua remembered that in order to promote treasury bills, employees’Part of the salary is paid in Treasury bills. China Chengxin strives to promote the issuance of corporate bonds, but in the Chinese bond market that is still constrained by the planned economy, the issuance rate of corporate bonds cannot be higher than that of treasury bonds. The reason is that it is worried that the high interest rates of corporate bonds will grab the treasury bond issuance market.
In 1997, the Central Bank required commercial banks to completely withdraw from the exchange market and establish an inter-bank bond market. Since then, China’s bond market has gradually formed a bond market structure in which the inter-bank market is dominated, and the inter-bank and exchanges are separated. The now well-known China Chengxin International is a company established in 1999 when it spun off its rating business, and Fitch, a foreign-funded rating agency, participated in the joint venture. At that time, the company’s shareholding structure was 30% by Fitch, 15% by International Finance Corporation (IFC), 45% by China Chengxin, and 10% by China Business Times. (Later, China Chengxin took back the shares from these shareholders.)
It was not until 2005, 13 years after the establishment of China Chengxin, that the “first year of rating” came. . This year the central bank launched short-term financing bills, opening a new starting point for the development of China’s credit bond market. Since then, companies have begun to issue unsecured credit bonds on a large scale, and China has a truly market-oriented capital market rating. It was in this year that China Chengxin’s rating business began to make profits for the first time.
The story between China Chengxin and Moody’s has just begun.
In 2006, Moody’s acquired a 49% stake in China Chengxin International from China Chengxin. Regulators believe that local companies started late and hope that China Chengxin will introduce foreign rating concepts and methods through joint ventures.
“The introduction of Moody’s advanced and mature rating technology and management will help improve the standard and credibility of China’s rating industry, and will promote China’s rating industry to better serve China’s capital The market.” The media quoted Mao Zhenhua as saying at that time. 
In the initial negotiation, Moody’s proposed to hold 51%, and Mao Zhenhua will finally settle the deal after a struggle. The conditions were revised to Moody’s holding 49%. After the completion of the acquisition, Mao Zhenhua once bluntly said in an interview with the media, “We are actuallyDifferent dreams in the same bed. They (Moody’s) want to be wholly-owned, and I hope to be a national brand in China. “Internal demand and external pressure forced us to choose a joint venture. “
Facts have proved that this is not a peaceful “marriage.”
In 2016, China Chengxin took The 100% equity of China Chengxin Securities Appraisal Co., Ltd. was held at the price of increasing its holdings of China Chengxin International. After the completion of the transaction, the proportion of equity in China Chengxin International held by Moody’s dropped from 49% to 30%. In 2018, China Chengxin Group sold part Equity, has introduced CITIC Capital, Three Gorges Capital, Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital and other institutional investors for China Chengxin International. 
In 2012, a subsidiary of China Chengxin China Chengxin Asia Pacific has also obtained a business license in Hong Kong and directly competes with Moody’s and other three major international rating agencies in Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region.
So far, China Chengxin International’s valuation is 10 billion yuan, compared with 1999 The annual spin-off of 20 million yuan at the time of registration has increased 500 times, but it is still a long way from Moody’s US$60 billion market value.
At the same time The development of China’s bond market can be said to be rapid. As of the end of 2020, China’s domestic bond market has reached 114 trillion yuan, exceeding the total GDP of 2020, and has grown to become the largest bond market in Asia and the second largest in the world. The bond market is also It has become the main financing channel for mature large and medium-sized enterprises in China, and the stock of the entire bond market is higher than the total market value of the entire Chinese stock market.
The time has come for the bond market to further open up. The Chinese rating industry market has also opened a new chapter.
In March 2018, the NAFMII officially accepted the registration of overseas rating agencies. Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch Global Big credit rating agencies are eager to try, and quickly began to plan for sole proprietorship in China.
In the next two years, S&P’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating ( China) Co., Ltd. and Fitch’s wholly-owned subsidiary-Fitch UBM Credit Rating Co., Ltd. successively in BeijingOpened. Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating was allowed to enter the interbank bond market and obtained a Class A credit rating business license, while Fitch Bohua obtained a Class B license for the interbank bond market. Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating also completed the filing of securities rating business with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, becoming the first wholly foreign-owned rating agency to complete this filing.
In the context of Sino-US trade frictions and the opening of the bond market, the market has repeatedly reported that Moody’s and China Chengxin International have reached a framework agreement to seek support for China Chengxin International. The stock has increased from the current 30% to more than 50%. In this regard, China Chengxin International firmly denied, but Moody’s declined to comment.
Later, Mao Zhenhua responded publicly for the first time at the 2020 Yabuli Qingdao Forum, “For whatever reason, we will not transfer shares and control to it (Moody’s) .”
It is not only the industry leader, but also a young and beautiful tree in the forest of Chinese enterprises
Shortly after the end of the Yabuli trip, Mao Zhenhua rushed around again. On the way.
On the summer solstice day, Mao Zhenhua rushed to Hubei as the chairman of China Chengxin Group, and began a nearly week-long investigation. During this trip, he met with the vice governor of Hubei Province and the leaders of Wuhan City, as well as several large enterprises in Hubei Province. Mao Zhenhua said that China Chengxin Group regards Hubei as an important region for strategic development and actively promotes the development of Hubei’s credit industry and other fields.
In the main business rating industry, after nearly 30 years of development, China Chengxin has grown into China’s largest credit rating company and has undertaken most of China’s capital market. The first order of financial product ratings and the fourth largest rating agency in the world.
In the annual corporate bond credit rating agency credit evaluation of the National Development and Reform Commission, China Chengxin International has been ranked first for five consecutive years; statistics from the Association of Interbank Market Dealers show that As of the third quarter of 2020, China Chengxin International accounted for 34% of the market share of rating agencies in the interbank market, far surpassing other peer institutions.
Although China Chengxin ranks first in its peers in terms of “score”, it has always been like a boat against the current, and it often has to move forward with twists and turns.
In the case of relatively limited rating business, from 1992 to the first half of 1994, reforms in the financial sector and state-owned enterprises went hand in hand. Under this background, China Chengxin has undertaken many Investment banking and financial advisory services:Starting from designing the financing plan for the Three Gorges Project, he successively served as the financial consultant for the restructuring and listing of many enterprises such as Xinghua Winery, China Nonferrous Metals, Wuhan Zhongbai, Yili Industry, etc.; Shandong Huaneng project became the first China Chengxin to successfully list on the New York Stock Exchange Project…
In the second half of 1994, China’s capital market was in a downturn. Mao Zhenhua encountered the first cold winter since he started his business: shareholders’ votes almost forced him to Leave the company you founded. After that, he worked in Hong Kong for 3 years as the president of a listed company in Hong Kong. 
Tian Yuan, Chen Dongsheng, and Mao Zhenhua (from left to right) were in Harvard Business School
until 1998, when the 12 state-owned shareholders of China Chengxin gradually withdrew. Mao Zhenhua used the money he earned in Hong Kong to buy the company’s equity and gradually increased the company’s capital from 20 million to 80 million.
However, since the individual consulting projects that China Chengxin participated in involved investigations by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the discipline inspection department also investigated Mao Zhenhua from 1999 to 2000. Although no problems were found in the investigation results, it was a big shock to him.
After experiencing this setback, Mao Zhenhua has become more firm in the principle of trading-his business is to do what he can in the field he is familiar with, and make fewer mistakes; he He is also more clear about his own position. He is by no means a “businessman” who earns all money, and he does not make extraordinary “transactions.”
“I am not a professional businessman. Professional businessman has the needs of professional businessman.” Mao Zhenhua said.
Mao Zhenhua likes to draw a boundary for himself. He thinks it has something to do with the civil service training he has received-bottom line thinking-everything has a bottom line, once he crosses the boundary, he “foul “Again.
When China’s credit bond market is ushering in a booming development, the “Yongmei Incident” in the winter of 2020 has become another historic turning point. China Chengxin International was arrested by supervision for becoming an “accomplice” on the road of Yongmei’s thunderstorm, and suspended the relevant business for 3 months.
Subsequently, the central bank, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Association of Dealers, etc.Many departments have issued a series of policies on the cancellation of mandatory debt ratings, which have had a profound impact on issuers, investment institutions and the entire rating industry.
Mao Zhenhua does not shy away from the problem of “inflated ratings” in the rating industry. Although there are problems with the rating companies themselves, he also pointed out that there are multiple reasons for this situation, one of which is the merit-based mechanism-many companies want to issue bonds, but their qualifications do not meet the prescribed threshold (rating levels are AA+ and above). China has such a large stock of companies, but not many companies can issue bonds.
For a long time in the past, the size of the exchange market was much smaller than the inter-bank market. After 2015, the China Securities Regulatory Commission vigorously developed the corporate bond market, and the exchange market ushered in explosive growth, but this also led to the fact that the level of the exchange market is generally higher than the inter-bank market. Therefore, “regulatory competition” has become the most realistic problem that domestic rating agencies face daily.
Li Xiaojia, the former president of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has a saying that “the king and the old are looking for relatives”: buyers and sellers should be free marriages, “father-in-law” (supervised ) Should play a relatively small role. Mao Zhenhua drew another analogy: sometimes the regulators help daughters choose sons-in-law, and only those who have been approved are excellent.
“We (the rating agency) are only a member of this selection process.”
Standing in the enterprise From the standpoint of the country, Mao Zhenhua’s “high ratings” phenomenon also stems from China’s national conditions: the credit of local state-owned enterprises is highly tied to the credit of local governments-most of China’s bond-issuing companies are state-owned enterprises or enterprises with state-owned backgrounds. The degree of credit differentiation depends on two factors: the company’s own debt repayment ability and government support, whichever is higher.
Mao Zhenhua took some loss-making companies as an example: Although they are not profitable, if the country needs such companies, the ratings will be very high, and the rating agencies will There is no clear legal document as a basis for the judgment of the credit distinction.
How should the national credit and the credit transfer of these enterprises be judged? What impact will the company’s willingness and way of assuming responsibility ultimately have on investors? These important issues related to corporate credit ratings, Mao Zhenhua admits that this is a difficult problem, and it is also a problem that the industry needs to face and improve together. Even if you can refer to the lessons learned from mature markets, the rating companies still need to grasp the degree.
“Our company is a small tree in the forest of thousands of enterprises in China, with its own piece of land. Although there are often unsatisfactory things, we are thinkers, participants, and harvesters. “Mao Zhenhua said.
Giving up is another perseverance
Mao Zhenhua has a more and more clear understanding of where he and his company are-engaged in rating The industry means that we must draw boundaries for ourselves: we can’t do things that are risky, we can’t do things that are risky, we can’t do things that affect the brand, and we can’t do things that compete with rating customers. The less come.
With the gradual formation of China’s capital market, the main business needs of credit ratings have begun to normalize. If China Chengxin is engaged in investment banking business and rating business at the same time, two It’s easy to have a conflict of interest, which is neither professional nor compliant.
“Because of its nature, my company has boundaries and is limited by total demand. The rating market is so large that the scale of the company will naturally be affected. Constraints.”
In the end, Mao Zhenhua chose to retreat to the second line—as the chief economist of China Chengxin International. He smiled and said that this identity is equivalent to the company’s senior consultant. In addition, he also retains the position of chairman of the holding company China Chengxin Investment Group Co., Ltd.
This decision dates back to 2007. At that time, the Chinese economy was still in a period of fiery upswing before the subprime mortgage crisis. Mao Zhenhua’s economic literacy and years of business intuition told himself that the Chinese economy might face a cyclical adjustment. With this strong awareness, he wanted to give the company a signal-“Pause expansion and adopt a cautious stance.” At the same time, in the business world After more than 10 years of ups and downs, there is always an unforgettable feeling in his heart. This sentiment eventually drove him to make a “semi-retirement” decision-choosing to be a university teacher and continue to study the macro issues of the country and society.
This decision has far-reaching significance for Mao Zhenhua and the development of the company. At the beginning of the sea, Mao Zhenhua was full of ideals. He believed that enterprise development has no boundaries and can cross industries and even countries. He is not only the pioneer of China’s rating industry-it is everybody who stepped out of government agencies to establish enterprises and become the world’s top 500 companies. The yearning of entrepreneurs. Once give upIt can be said that he has given up his ideals from the beginning of business.
But he believes that this is a rational choice—”Dare to give up, and live forever”—is another kind of persistence.
In the second year after Moody’s acquired 49% of China Chengxin International’s shares from China Chengxin, in 2007, Mao Zhenhua made an important decision: to gradually fade out of China Chengxin’s In daily management, he served as the co-director of the Economic Research Institute of Renmin University of China and began to focus on academic research in macroeconomics. This choice made Mao Zhenhua seem to have returned to the beginning of his career-studying the country’s macroeconomic issues-back to the original feelings of a child. 
Yabli’s Day and Night News reporter Jiang Mengying
The unfinished feelings of the “92 faction” generation
The last night of Yabuli, Mao Zhenhua, Chen Dongsheng, and Tian Yuan stayed with the “Chinese Entrepreneurs Forum” Of young members of the exchange. Facing these young faces, Tian Yuan choked up when he talked about the feelings of family and country, and had to stop and wipe away tears.
Can the younger generation understand these tears?
“From the orange and red light/from the awakened woods/I carry simple luggage/follow the sign of the mountain/towards this tall phoenix tree, the quiet forest /Towards the green glazed tiles and gray walls/Follow the steps leading to the collection of books/Level after level.”
This is Mao Zhenhua’s childhood at Wuhan University Poems written under Luojia Mountain. He is convinced that everyone is a product of the times, and no one can escape from the great age.
As a generation who emerged from the university campus in the 1980s, Mao Zhenhua still believes in the ideal of enlightenment: knowledge is noble and poetry is beautiful. 
Mao Zhenhua and Chen Dongsheng in Yabuli Photographed by reporter Jiang Mengying
In 1979, 15-year-old Mao Zhenhua was successfully admitted to the Department of Economics of Wuhan University from Shishou, Hubei. This is a man who has never seen football before. As a teenager, it was the university that really changed his destiny, and it was here that he met Chen Dongsheng.
“We walked all the way and felt that we were too closely connected with the country and society. I was a farmer who was able to go to university because of the resumption of the college entrance examination, and went to a good institution. Later, when I went to the sea, I also obeyed the call of reform. My personal development is shared with the whole society. “
From official to business, from business to learning—— Although Mao Zhenhua’s experience is quite unique among the “92 faction”, if it is placed in the historical environment, he is deeply embedded in the era in which he grew up-the history of the country is deeply intertwined with his personal history , Shaping his personality and influencing his choices—the family and country sentiments made a deep mark on them. Growing up from the age of “enlightenment”, they are both intellectuals who advocate rationality and are optimistic and pragmatic entrepreneurs. 
CCX is just “the forest of thousands of companies in China A small tree in the middle.” Photographed by reporter Jiang Mengying at the permanent venue of the Yabuli Entrepreneur Forum-China Entrepreneur Museum
After graduating from Wuhan University, Mao Zhenhua worked in the Hubei Provincial Statistics Bureau, the Provincial Party Committee Policy Research Office, the Hainan Provincial Government Research Center, and the State Council Research Office. And other units are engaged in economic research work, walking out of the Jianghan Plain, and their footprints are from south to north.
“I have been to so many places with completely different environments. It seems that I am always running around and jumping a lot. Why is this? Our farmhouse My son, every job is derived from the recognition of you formed in the last job. No one recommends, your resource is yourself, and there can be no good conditions. The same is true for business.. “
In a blink of an eye, Mao Zhenhua has been engaged in macroeconomic research in colleges and universities for 14 years. He served as the director of the Institute of Economics of Renmin University of China and released the macroeconomic report quarterly. And the monthly analysis report has been quite influential. He himself has published many monographs in the fields of macroeconomics, capital market and credit rating theory.
“Obviously I It is impossible to go back to be a civil servant. I chose to be a teacher at a university and continue to study national issues. This is an aspect of our country’s feelings, although not in a direct way. “
“Research” can be said to be Mao Zhenhua’s old line. He has a strong self-identification of the identity of “researcher”-this allows him to do it again Back to the intellectual who advocates rationality. Compared with the highly respected entrepreneurial stories and “Spirit Chicken Soup”, he pays more attention to the logic and development strategy of enterprise expansion, plus how to control the financial affairs of the enterprise, how to identify risks, etc. .
In the book “Corporate Expansion and Financing”, Mao Zhenhua starts from the theory of enterprise growth and the analysis of enterprise expansion, and analyzes the risk characteristics of the enterprise at different stages, Combining the actual situation, we try to find suitable financing methods for the expansion of enterprises; while “Double Bottom Line Thinking” reviews and rethinks China’s macroeconomic policies since 2008, and discusses the experience, gains and losses of China’s macroeconomic operations in the past ten years. He also looked forward to the future trend of China’s macroeconomics.
Compared with the phenomenon of early retirement for research in the younger generation of Internet “newcomers”, Mao Zhenhua believes that these two “Retirement” is not the same: the choices made by the younger generation are more commercial and have more research on consumer psychology and customer acquisition management, while his research is more theoretical and academic, and studies on specific business needs Very few. He admits that there is a big difference from the younger generation of entrepreneurs.
” (growth) environment is completely different. The younger generation values success and wealth more. When we started a business, we thought less about it, thinking that it was a career and a matter. Later, the development of (the company) was far beyond imagination. I didn’t expect China to develop so well. “
Born in a poor family, Mao Zhenhua believes that his personal success is not only based on his own efforts, but also has a lot to do with the times. Without a market economy, without change, just Today without him, and even less with China Chengxin today.
Looking back on the 30 years that China Chengxin has gone through, it is alsoDuring the 30 years of China’s economic reform and opening up-although the scenery along the way is magnificent, the rapids have also appeared from time to time, after all kinds of persistence and choice-in the next 30 years, can this green and beautiful tree grow into a towering tree, overlooking the magnificent world ?