He was the son of
荣德生 of the
荣氏 flour and cotton family of
无锡. When much of the family left in 1949 he stayed, handed his mills to the state in 1956, and was nicknamed the 'red capitalist' by Shanghai's mayor
陈毅. In 1979 Deng Xiaoping asked him to set up CITIC to draw in overseas money.
