Tang Wenjian

Tang Wenjian has distinguished himself in the area of hospitality management.

Tang Wenjian

He is the chairman and president of Jinling Holdings Limited, which operates 28 hotels across China. He lives in Nanjing, in China's Jiangsu Province.

Born and raised in Nanjing, Tang received his college diploma from Jiangsu Provincial Tourism School in 1980, his university diploma from Shanghai Tourism Institute in 1985, and his master’s from the Scottish Hotel School, University of Strathclyde, in 1995.

Tang started his career in the hospitality business in 1980 as a housekeeper and receptionist in one of China’s first tourist hotels. He joined Jinling Hotel Company in 1982, holding successive positions as front office supervisor, executive housekeeper, deputy manager of a subsidiary hotel, deputy general manager of the flagship hotel, and executive vice president.

By 1997, Tang became the company’s president and general manager of its flagship hotel. Since then, he has transformed a mid-tier lodging company into a conglomerate with 29 wholly-owned subsidiaries and share-holding companies. The flagship hotel has achieved five-star status, been named the best lodging property in all of China by the director of the China National Tourism Administration, and is listed among the "100 Leading Hotels of the World."

Tang has developed a high-caliber management team through systematic training and aggressive international exchange programs with hotel companies and world-class universities, including Purdue. Under Tang’s leadership, Jinling as become a hospitality brand known for its high quality and dedicated workforce, and for its unique integration of western management techniques with Chinese culture.

Tang forged a commitment between Jinling Hotel and Purdue’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, which started in 2000 with the arrival of the first visiting scholar who was integrated into the teaching and research efforts of the HTM department. Since then, there have been three additional visiting scholars, four HTM faculty members have provided professional development to staff in Nanjing, and up to six students each year experience an in-depth internship program spanning five months in Nanjing. Also, 20 Jinling managers attend a six-week Summer Management Development Program.