Zhou Haijiang, chairman of Hodo Group, is?included in the list of 100 most outstanding private entrepreneurs during 40 years of reform and opening-up in China.?[Photo/IC]

The list of 100 most outstanding private entrepreneurs during 40 years of reform and opening-up in China was released in Beijing on Oct 24, and it includes three Wuxi entrepreneurs.

Organized by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, outstanding private entrepreneurs were awarded and invited to show their life stories and promote the development of private economy in China.

Zhou Haijiang, chairman of Hodo Group, Yu Minhong, founder of education colossus New Oriental Group and Chen Zhilie, board chairman of EVOC Intelligent Technology, were all born in Wuxi in the 1960s and started their business in the early years of reform and opening-up.

The sample room of Hodo Group. [Photo/Xinhua]

As the birthplace of China's modern industry and commerce, Wuxi has been known as "little Shanghai" for years due to its flourishing economy, especially its private economy.

In the 1980s, Hodo Group, which is one of China's top 500 enterprises, was just a village-level knitting factory on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2001, it was successfully listed.

Zhou Haijiang, expressed his gratitude to the country and the reform and opening-up policy, which offered an environment and opportunities for developing his business. He and his father worked together to make it a success.