Chief Executive Leadership Institute Honors Lifan Group Founder with Leadership Award

New Haven, Conn., October 8, 2010 – Yin Mingshan, founder and chairman of the Lifan Group, will accept the Legend in Leadership Award of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute in a ceremony to be held during the 63rd Yale CEO Leadership Summit in Shanghai on October 11.

The summit will convene one hundred world-renowned business leaders from the U.S., Europe, and China to discuss “Leading Global Enterprises Across Global Cities: Aspirations, Realities, and Alternatives.” The co-sponsors include: Deloitte, IBM, PepsiCo, UPS, Korn/Ferry International, North Highland, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

Among the conference participants are Jerry Leamon, global managing partner, Deloitte; Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP; Maurice Greenberg, CEO, C.V. Starr & Co; Philip Lader, non-executive chairman, WPP; Joel Szabat, U.S. deputy assistant for secretary of transportation policy; Zhou Hanmin, director, Executive Committee of Shanghai Expo 2010; Fan Wenzhong, director general, China Banking Regulatory Commission; Stephen Roach, chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia; Laura Cha, deputy chair, HSBC China; Mark Norbom, president & CEO, GE Greater China; Jesse Wang, executive vice president, China Investment Corporation; Deng Feng, managing director, Northern Light Venture Capital; Li You, executive vice president and director, Founder Group; Guofu Gao, chairman, China Pacific Insurance Co.; Shao Zili, chairman & CEO, JPMorgan China; Jonathan Spence, professor, Yale University; Zhiwu Chen, professor, Yale School of Management; Sharon Oster, dean, Yale School of Management; Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean, Yale School of Management, president of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, and conference organizer.

Professor Sonnenfeld commented:

We are thrilled to hold our 63rd CEO Summit in Shanghai in the year China is designated the world’s second largest economy and plays host to World Expo 2010. We are looking at the business implications of the Expo’s inspiring theme “Better City, Better Life.”

Thus, we will consider the theme “Leading Global Enterprises Across Global Cities: Aspirations, Realities, and Alternatives” with global business leaders across sectors discussing new urbanization challenges to societal goals in commerce, transportation, communication, finance, technology, and sustainability, and general life quality. We are drawing upon lessons learned in Shanghai and other mega cities around the world.

With transportation advances a key objective, we are especially proud to celebrate Mr. Yin Mingshan and the Lifan Group. His personal model of leadership shows how courage and creativity can transcend personal adversity, ideological hurdles, and engineering barriers to improve how people live.

The Lifan Industry Group was created in 1992 with just nine people, including Mr. Yin Mingshan. Today, with 13,200 employees, this private enterprise has become the country’s third largest motorcycle manufacturer, with motorcycle and automotive products sold around the world. Lifan holds more patents on advanced engine technologies than any other Chinese private enterprise. Lifan’s products have been widely sold in more than 160 countries all over the world. Lifan is also a leader in electric cars, with the capacity to produce up to 50,000 electric cars per year. Presently, Lifan has established motorcycle factories in Vietnam, Thailand, and Turkey. It is just now beginning to sell cars in Australia and Brazil. It has consistently ranked highly in lists of top Chinese enterprises for its growth and innovation, including Forbes list of Top Enterprises in China, on which it was number 88. It is also well respected for its philanthropy. In 2008, Yin and Lifan Group donated 2 million RMB for the reconstruction after the Wenshan Earthquake in Sichuan Province. In addition, by the end of 2008, Yin had established more than 100 Guangcai schools, which provide education to children in poor areas of China. Since 1992, he has donated a total of 6,413 million RMB to the community of Lifan.

Yin Mingshan, founder and chairman of the Lifan Group, was born in 1940 in the city of Chongqing. During the Cultural Revolution in China, Yin spent 20 years in labor camps as a punishment for his capitalistic tendencies. In 1992, he began his career building motorcycles. He invested 200,000 Yuan (approximately $30,000) to establish a motorcycle workshop which later became today's Lifan Group.

Yin is a soccer fan. After the company became profitable, Yin acquired Hong Yan Huan Dao Club in 2000. In 2003, Yin acquired another soccer club named Yunnan Hongta. In 2008, in order to take his soccer club to the next level, he spent $6.8 million to acquire Chongqing Longcin Club, which was in the Super League (the highest level) of FIFA China.

From 1994 to 2003, Yin Mingshan was awarded several Outstanding Entrepreneur titles for establishing 10 high-tech zones in Chongqing. In 2000, Yin was given the Bauhinia Cup of Entrepreneurs honorary title of the year by Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In 2001, Yin won Revitalization of Chongqing Contribution Award due to the success of Lifan Group and was awarded an honorable cause medal for promoting the Guangcai Program (establishing schools for kids in poor areas of China).

In 2002, Yin won the 2002 Outstanding Contribution to the National Quality Management Award. The same year, The National Association of Industry and Commerce and the China Federation of Trade Unions jointly awarded the Best Care for Employees of Private Entrepreneurs title to Mr. Yin.

Past winners of the “Legend in Leadership Award” include: Alan Mulally of the Ford Motor Company; Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase; Robert Iger of The Walt Disney Corporation; Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Group; Roger Enrico of PepsiCo; John Pepper of Proctor & Gamble; Don Keough of The Coca-Cola Co.; McKinsey founder Marvin Bower; Jim Kelly of UPS; Richard Teerlink of Harley-Davidson; Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson; Infosys founder Nandan Nilekani; Lou Gerstner of IBM; and Anne Mulcahy of Xerox.

This event is the 63rd CEO Leadership Summit of The Chief Executive Leadership Institute. This part of the Yale School of Management is the world’s first school for incumbent CEOs. It was founded in 1989 to provide original research on leadership and lively, current educational forums through peer-driven learning for accomplished leaders across sectors. To learn more about the CELI, visit: http://celi.som.yale.edu.