Pan Zhongqian shows off his Chinese calligraphy work. [Photo/bnu.edu.cn]
Pan Zhongqian, 90, was born in Rui'an city in Wenzhou. He is not only a businessman with a successful career in Italy spanning over 40 years, but also a respectable elderly man leading overseas Chinese groups in Italy.
Pan is an alumnus of Beijing Normal University with a major in Chinese language and literature. He followed in his father's footsteps and entered the leather bag business in Milan, Italy in 1980.
Pan overcame his initial hesitation, moved to Rome to enter the catering industry, and gradually expanded his business over the following decades. In 1996, Pan and his wife discovered opportunities behind the ever-growing tourism industry in Rome and decided to join the hotel industry. The couple currently owns six hotels and Pan was honored as one of the 100 gentlest Chinese businesspeople across the globe in 2004.
Pan has been handling overseas Chinese affairs since 1985, five years after he arrived in Italy. With the support of the Chinese Embassy, he, He Chunlin, Jin Delong and other veteran leaders co-founded the Association of Overseas Chinese in Rome, and Pan served as its first secretary-general.
Pan has been preparing to help overseas Chinese integrate into Italian society. He launched language classes for new arrivals, invited Italian business administration departments to teach classes on business policies and regulations, and translated the Italian Notice to Foreigners into Chinese.
He also emphasized cultural exchanges between the two countries and invited Chinese artists to perform in Italy during the National Day and Chinese New Year holidays, arranged study trips for educators from his hometown of Rui'an, and held literature seminars for Chinese and Italian scholars.
