Companies do not need to be family affairs

CAO DEWANG, founder and chairman of Fuyao Glass Industry Group, said during a recent interview that he is making efforts to persuade his son to take over his job in the coming year, but the latter has shown little interest in running the leading manufacturer of automotive and industrial glass. Beijing News commented on Monday:

The 71-year-old Cao is not the only Chinese entrepreneur who is having difficulties finding a successor. It is estimated that over 3 million private enterprises in the country will be expecting a new CEO in the next five or 10 years, but many of them are likely to be run by professional managers, because the incumbent owners could fail to talk their children into taking over the baton.

Traditionally bricks-and-mortar business founders prefer to have someone from within their family to take over after they retire.