Li Shufu: The 'Chinese Henry Ford'

Twelve years ago, Li Shufu's company, Zhejiang Geely, built its first car. Now he has snapped up Volvo and some, including The Economist, are billing him as the 'Chinese Henry Ford'.

Twelve years ago, Li Shufu's company, Zhejiang Geely, built its first car; now he has snapped up Volvo from Ford, vowing to "uncage the sleeping tiger". Now some, including The Economist, are even billing him as the Chinese Henry Ford.

The pair certainly have a good deal in common, says the FT: from a childhood on a farm to a determination to build a car-making behemoth from nothing. But Li seems a more likeable character. "He is a man of great humanity very charming, strong on relationships," says John Russell, head of Manganese Bronze, the London cab-maker in which Li also has a controlling stake. And it is hard to imagine even the famously polymathic Ford writing verse one of Li's favourite pastimes. The vast reception room of his firm's headquarters features a carpet woven with a poem he wrote himself. His personal website bears 21 more, including one entitled, Who could choose a clearer way than Geely?

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