Haibao News Commentator Xu Kunjie

　　The 4th Conference of Great Business Partners, hosted by the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and the People's Government of Shandong Province, is about to open in Jinan. Under the theme "Upholding Integrity, Embracing Innovation," the profound Confucian entrepreneurship is once again brought into public focus and pushed to the forefront of the times.

　　People may wonder, in today’s era of surging digital waves and ever-evolving business models, how can the business ethics and spirit rooted in Confucianism transcend historical cycles and changes in business models to become an enduring “core” of business philosophy, continuously influencing generations of entrepreneurs?

　　Integrity as the foundation, self-cultivation and self-discipline, the unity of righteousness and profit, and benefiting the world... The answer may lie within these essential qualities of Confucian entrepreneurs. They embody profound insight and balanced wisdom concerning the most fundamental and core dilemma of commercial activities—that is, how to reconcile the pursuit of profit with benevolence and righteousness.

　　(I)

　　The first level of Confucian entrepreneurship lies in discerning the relationship between moral conduct and material gain.

　　The Analectscandidly states that wealth and honor are what people desire, openly acknowledging that the pursuit of wealth is human nature. More importantly, the excellence of Confucianism lies in setting civilized boundaries for people’s natural pursuit of profit, i.e., if it cannot be obtained in the proper way, it should not be held. It consistently upholds the principle that commercial prosperity must never come at the expense of moral decay and social disorder. These ideas reflect an extremely pragmatic and sound view of wealth.

　　As Professor Kong Deli, Director of China Confucius Research Institute, has pointed out, the core of the Confucian entrepreneurship lies in balancing the pursuit of profit with benevolence and righteousness. This balanced wisdom enables Confucian entrepreneurship to serve as the ballast of business ethics in any era.

　　Shandong is the birthplace of Confucian culture and also the cradle of Confucian entrepreneurship. From Fan Li accumulating great wealth three times and distributing it to help the people—illustrating the ideal of wealth accompanied by virtuous conduct, to Zigong traveling in grand style and acquiring wealth by trading with integrity and wisdom—demonstrating the balance of righteousness and profit, and later to Meng Luochuan, founder of Refosian in modern times, who upheld the ancient teachings of taking virtue as the foundation, righteousness as the priority, and achieving profit through righteousness, Shandong has always been a vital land for the practice of Confucian entrepreneurship.

　　These celebrated business practices collectively demonstrate that healthy commerce is by no means a jungle game of survival of the fittest; rather, it is a civilized activity based on trust and cooperation. At its foundation lies the simple value of “a gentleman loves wealth but acquires it through proper means”, which serves as the fundamental ethical baseline and a crucial cornerstone for the healthy and sustainable development of commercial civilization. This constitutes the first core essence of Confucian entrepreneurship that transcends time and space.

　　(II)

　　Beyond the individual self, the excellence of Confucian entrepreneurship also lies in its establishment of a noble purpose for business activities that transcends wealth itself.

　　Confucian entrepreneurship integrates the values of “cultivating oneself, managing the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world” into the business philosophy, guiding generations of Confucian entrepreneurs to move from personal wealth accumulation to a greater sense of responsibility for wealth in society.

　　In modern times, Zhang Jian took “saving the country through industry” as his mission, transforming commercial profits into hundreds of schools and a comprehensive urban infrastructure, truly achieving the goal of “benefiting the world.” Contemporary philanthropist Tan Kah Kee devoted his entire fortune to education, firmly believing that education is a cause for generations to come. He advocated that education is the foundation of a nation and that promoting learning is every citizen’s duty. This philosophy guided him throughout his life, leading to the founding of Xiamen University and several other schools, as well as his support for the anti-Japanese national salvation movement. This reflects a profound resonance with Fan Li's and Zigong's philosophy of life.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping highly praised Zhang Jian as a model of national entrepreneurs and referred to Tan Kah Kee as a generation leader and role model of the overseas Chinese community, forever worthy of learning from. These commendations further affirm the value of Confucian entrepreneurship in the new era.

　　Confucian entrepreneurship does not offer techniques for making money faster; rather, it provides a clear sense of purpose for why business is conducted. It is this mindset and vision—integrating personal success into the grand currents of the times and establishing a profound sense of mission within the context of family and nation—that elevates commercial activities into a driving force for social progress. This constitutes another core essence of Confucian entrepreneurship that transcends time and space.

　　(III)

　　Harmony and cooperation are the essence of Confucian culture and the core values that Confucian entrepreneurs have steadfastly upheld.

　　The Chinese character “和” represents harmony and peacefulness, while "合" signifies win-win cooperation. Confucian entrepreneurs strive to seek a dynamic balance between harmony and cooperation. For example, Confucian entrepreneurs emphasize both righteousness and profit, pursuing the unity of righteousness and profit, because only profits earned according to moral principles can be sustainable. They also value the contractual spirit of keeping faith while also stressing the importance of benevolence, advocating for the fostering of a warm, harmonious, trustworthy, and principled ecosystem both inside and outside their enterprises. Especially in the context of intensified global competition, the harmony and cooperation wisdom rooted in Confucian entrepreneurship is urgently needed in the current era, as it inspires people to move from a “zero-sum game” toward open cooperation as well as harmony and win-win outcomes.

　　As an important birthplace and cradle of Confucian entrepreneurship, Shandong has consistently emphasized promoting the entrepreneurial spirit and Confucian entrepreneurship in the new era, consciously advancing the integration of China’s fine traditional culture with the modern commercial economy. A number of Shandong enterprises, exemplified by Haier and Weichai, are demonstrating the harmony and cooperation wisdom rooted in Confucian entrepreneurship to the world through their outstanding global practices. For example, guided by the symbiotic principle of establishing oneself to help others and seeking personal success while aiding others, Haier has implemented the Rendanheyi win-win model globally, striving for value co-creation with local users and employees. This has become a vivid example of contemporary Confucian entrepreneurs' practice moving from a zero-sum mindset to one of harmony and cooperation.

　　Achieving win-win outcomes through co-creation and symbiosis is precisely this highly balanced art of harmony and cooperation, which helps enterprises weather economic cycles and cope with various uncertainties. This represents another enduring core essence of Confucian entrepreneurship that transcends time and space.

　　Aimed at using Confucianism as a medium and support for commerce, fostering friendships through business, and promoting Confucianism through commercial activities, the Conference of Great Business Partners, as a high-level platform for Shandong’s opening-up and cooperation, has been included in government work reports for consecutive years since its inception in 2018. It serves as Shandong’s prestigious brand for engaging with the world, gathering resources, and promoting high-quality development, as well as a vivid contemporary practice and an important carrier of Confucian entrepreneurship. Through a series of open economic and trade cooperation activities and cultural forums, the conference enables a more concrete dissemination and practice of Confucian entrepreneurship, attracting growing attention and recognition from entrepreneurs both at home and abroad. The principles advocated by Confucian entrepreneurship, such as integrity, benevolence, harmony and cooperation, provide a shared value foundation and code of conduct for all participants of the conference, contributing to the establishment of deep trust and cooperation that go beyond mere commercial interests.

　　The important qualities—harmony and cooperation, honesty and trustworthiness, innovation and adaptability, righteousness and benefit for the world—of Confucian entrepreneurs should be inherited, internalized in the heart and externalized in actions. These spiritual traits and steadfast values have now become the spiritual foundation and guiding principles for Confucian entrepreneurs in the new era. They also constitute a shared cultural identity and value pursuit among a broad spectrum of business elites.

　　The Conference of Great Business Partners has been held consecutively over the past eight years. We can see that today’s Shandong is transforming its profound historical and cultural heritage into a high-quality business environment. While empowering its high-quality development through broader and higher-level investment promotion and talent recruitment activities, Shandong also provides fertile ground for the contemporary growth of Confucian entrepreneurship.