Foreign Policy, a leading international publication, selected Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin as one of its Leading Global Thinkers of 2013. The title is given to leading thinkers in the fields of business, politics and other areas. 

Wang is one of eight Chinese individuals on the list, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang; Wang Qishan, head of the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection; Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission; and film director Jia Zhangke.

Wang Jianlin made the list for his aspirations to build the next Chinese Hollywood, said the magazine, noting that Wanda’s Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis will be the biggest “threat” to Hollywood's global dominance.

The magazine also mentioned that although movies have come into Wang's business mix only recently, it has become the?second largest owner of cinemas in North America through the acquisition of AMC in 2012.

Foreign Policy compiles this remarkable list of people every year, selecting individuals whom have made a measurable contribution in the field of politics, business, technology, the arts, the sciences and more. The magazine compiles the list from thousands of candidates.

Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by famous conservative political scientist Samuel P. Huntington. The Washington-based magazine is recognized as one of the most influential publications in global politics.

The following is published on Foreign Policy:

Wang Jianlin: For dreaming of a ?Chinese Hollywood

Since 1923, the Hollywood sign has symbolized the glamour and promise of Los Angeles as the world's filmmaking capital. Nine decades later, the center of economic gravity is moving east to China, and the biggest threat to Hollywood's global dominance could be Wang Jianlin, a Chinese property tycoon who, in September, announced plans to build the world's largest film studio in Qingdao.

Scheduled to open in 2017, the 108,000-square-foot studio will be accompanied by "19 smaller facilities, one of which will be underwater," the Wall Street Journal reported. A sign reading "Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis" will grace a nearby mountain, overlooking a complex that will include resort hotels and a 3,000-seat movie theater.

Wang is China's richest man, with a net worth of $14.1 billion, according to Forbes. His property firm, the Dalian Wanda Group, owns hotels, shopping centers, and apartment buildings across China. Movies have come into Wang's business mix only recently, but in a huge way: In May 2012, Wanda announced its purchase of amc Entertainment for $2.6 billion, making Wang the second-?largest owner of cinemas in North America.

In September, Wang hosted a glitzy gala with the likes of Nicole Kidman and Leonardo DiCaprio to kick off Qingdao's development. If Wang has his way, movie stars will eventually be working in his studio more often than in Los Angeles.

For full report about the Leading Global Thinker of 2013, please click:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/2013_global_thinkers/public/