People

Went to sea, then began building and operating his own ships in the early 2000s — asphalt carriers, platform supply vessels, car carriers, research vessels. He became the first private owner in China to invest in and operate ocean-going research vessels commercially, in a segment that had until then belonged to state institutes, and did it without a template to follow. He still owns and runs a six-vessel research and offshore support fleet, and is moving into new vessel applications ahead of the market rather than behind it.

Over a decade in subsea technology and specialized ships, spent largely where Chinese and international companies meet. He has run marine campaigns overseas, closed subsea equipment acquisitions, and played a central part in international deals and collaboration projects that neither side could have brought together alone. Since 2023 he has led two DP2 newbuild projects from feasibility through partnership building and procurement into construction, handling technical and commercial discussions with more than thirty suppliers and integrators. He is usually the one holding both conversations at once.

Forty years at STARI and MARIC, two of China's leading ship research and design institutes. Chief designer on the polar icebreakers Xuelong and Jidi, the research vessel Jiageng, the Shenhai-1 submersible mothership, and Haiyang Dizhi 8, built around a high-resolution 3D seismic system with 16,000 nautical miles of endurance. As project director he delivered the 11,000-metre surface support system for Fendouzhe, the submersible that reached 10,909 metres in the Mariana Trench, and he is now lead developer of China's first sea-based rocket recovery platform.

Almost none of these had a precedent in China when he started them. National science and technology expert, with four first-class ministerial awards and six patents.

Thirty-five years at CSSC Wuchang Shipyard, one of China's leading builders of special-purpose ships, and Chief Builder there from 2008. He delivered the Xiangyanghong 03 — a 4,500-tonne survey vessel with all-electric azimuth propulsion that turns on the spot and works as far as the polar regions — together with the Xiangyanghong 05 and 20, two 3,000-tonne buoy tenders built in parallel, and a series of chemical tankers for a European owner. Eight major projects as Chief Builder, delivered on time and accepted first time.