Who are the fifty most important people in China? Who stands to influence the forces at play inside and outside of that enigmatic country?

Your Input Requested

A suppositional who’s who has been presented by Kerry Brown of Chatham House and he and openDemockcracy invite readers to comment upon, delete, or add to the 50 individuals whose brief biographies have been laid out for examination and debate here.

“Like it or not,” says Brown, “some of the names on this list should be household names outside of China. They really do have the power to affect the lives of citizens around the world, and we need to know much more about them.” When the exercise is complete, we’ll see if there are fundamental differences between how outsiders and insiders regard influence and power in China. openDemocracy and Chatham House believe this ongoing project (as we hope it will become) will prove interesting, useful and educational.”
(Source)

Here are a few of the suggested powerbrokers:

Li Ka-shing, Businessma, 78

Born in Chaozhou, Guangdong province, Li is among the world’s top-ten richest business people. He earned his wealth in Hong Kong, originally in plastic flowers, then through the conglomerate Hutchinson Whampao Ltd, which is active in infrastructure, property, telecommunications and other areas. Li has immense influence, both through his investments in China (including the Oriental Plaza complex in Beijing) and his philanthropy. Regarded by some as the most powerful man in Asia.

Zhang Yimou, film director, 56

Born in Xi’an, in Shaanxi province. Frequently criticised within China for producing films that are palatable only to western tastes. This sits oddly with the general, wide distribution of his recent works, most significantly Hero in 2002. Zhang has been in and out of the critical doghouse several times, but that hasn’t prevented him from being tapped to do the opening direction for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing — a moment laden with political and cultural import which, in contemporary China, perhaps only he could fully rise to

Li Hongzhi, religious leader, 54

Born in Gongzhuling, Jilin province. Head of the controversial Falun Gong movement, which is now considered much less potent a force than it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although he is now based in North America, Li – whom many consider a cult leader — still maintains a powerful covert following in China.