Who is Mr.Zhang Yuliang ?

            Greenland Group CEO Zhang Yuliang speaks during a conference. (Photo/CNS)

Zhang Yuliang
Chairman/President

Mr. Yuliang Zhang serves as the President and Chairman of Shanghai Greenland (Group) Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Greenland Construction (Group) Co., Ltd. Mr. Yuliang served as Director of Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd, until March 31, 2011.

Former Director
Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.
President and Chairman
Shanghai Greenland (Group) Co., Ltd.
President and Chairman
Shanghai Greenland Construction (Group) Co., Ltd.

Twenty years ago, Zhang Yuliang was the director of the residential department of Shanghai’s agriculture committee, responsible for constructing and allocating residences for the committee’s various units.

In 1992, furnished with 20 million yuan (US$3.1 million) in funds from the municipal government, Zhang led around a dozen young employees to establish Green Land Development, the forerunner of Green Land Group.

Green Land Group is now 51% owned by Shanghai’s agricultural committee, 46% by its employees and 3% by other shareholders. Therefore, though Green Land is a state enterprise, it possesses the flexibility of a private company.

On July 9, Fortune magazine published its list of the world’s 500 largest enterprises for 2012. Green Land Group made the list for the first time and is the first Chinese realty firm to do so. Green Land now boasts annual sales of 200 billion yuan (US$31.3 billion). In addition to realty, the group has also forayed into the energy amrket.

During the 20th anniversary of Green Land on July 17, Zhang Yuliang announced that the company will step up its overseas investments.

Green Land’s realty business has extended to over 60 cities in China, with its products including residences, office buildings, and multi-purpose development projects. Realty sales topped 77.6 billion yuan (US$12.16 billion) last year, with the third highest land area in China.

Their share of the commercial property market has been increasing in recent years, reaching 30% last year and expected to climb to 40-45% this year and 60% next year. The company excels in the construction of super-tall buildings, such as the Zifeng Tower in Nanjing, which at 450 meters is the tallest building in Jiangsu province.

Up to now, Green Land has built 15 skyscrapers in China, including three which are among the world’s 10 tallest buildings.

In 2007, Green Land confirmed that energy would be its second business pillar. It has also been diversifying into finance and other fields. At present, realty and energy each contribute 40% of the group’s business, with the remaining 20% coming from other fields. Zhang says that it is very difficult to achieve sustained development in every field, especially for an enterprise with sales exceeding 100 billion yuan (US$15.7 billion) a year.

Zhang said Green Land has chosen energy as its second major area of business for three main reasons. First, Shanghai lies at the center of the Yangtze River Delta which has massive energy requirements. Secondly, Green Land has grasped the opportunity from the government’s coal mining reforms in 1996. Third, from a long-term viewpoint, China will be one of the world’s leading consumers of energy.

Zhang has set 500 billion yuan (US$78.4 billion) as the company’s annual sales target by 2015, which if achieved would see the group to muscle into the world’s 200 largest enterprises.