Editor's note: There is no doubt that the Olympic Games will be the pivotal event for China in 2008. But next year will also be notable as the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening up policy, which laid the foundation for the nation's remarkable economic growth and increasing prosperity.

Many exceptional private entrepreneurs were born because of the policy. They have since made significant contributions to China's rise as a global economic powerhouse.

To understand and report their achievements, China Business Weekly interviewed 40 private entrepreneurs in 2007. The following are summaries of some of the entrepreneurs we covered:

(China Daily 12/29/2007 page12)