Two outspoken property tycoons become the ‘inseparable pair’.

PAN Shiyi and Ren Zhiqiang are two of the most recognisable faces in China’s real estate sector.

Pan is the chairman of SOHO China, a prime office real estate developer, and Ren has helmed Huayuan Real Estate Holdings since 2000.

Sometimes they are regarded as the “most compatible xiangsheng pair in the industry” for bantering each other yet in a tacit manner just like real xiangsheng performers.

Originated during the Ming dynasty, xiangsheng is the art of crosstalk usually performed by two people in the Tianjin dialect or northerner’s Mandarin. It is one of the most popular performing arts with a varied and appreciative audience.

It was showtime again for Pan and Ren, to the delight of their audiences on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia in southern China’s Hainan province early this month.

Ren: “Pan said (the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ministry) had earlier met him (to discuss new property tax policies).

“He told the ministry that it should not restrict people from buying properties but should increase taxes. Later, the ministry introduced the five-point policies and now we realised that he (Pan) was the architect of the policies.”

Pan: “This is a rumour! The ministry officials indeed asked me for my opinion. I said the restriction policy is not good and it should be a short-term policy and not a long-term measure. I did propose for property taxes to be imposed only after buying the second, third or even fifth property. But these new policies result in a 20% increase in tax for liquid assets and this is not right.”

On how the government could effectively reduce house prices, Pan said: “I have an idea to link information on all properties nationwide together. Anybody who produces his identification card and name can search anyone’s property. Then you will see whether the supply of secondhand properties is high or low. When there is a huge supply, I do not believe prices will not fall.”

Ren: “What does linking properties’ information together have anything to do with house prices? The United States and Germany do not do so but secondhand housing makes up of 70% or 80% of the total transaction in the US.”

Pan: “I mean Chinese officials will be afraid of disclosing the many properties that they might possess (if such information is easily accessible) and they will try selling them off.”

Ren: “Transactions for new properties still make up the majority in China. The question is whether the properties in stock are sufficient to meet the demand; obviously, there is a serious shortage of supply.”

On whether house prices would rise or fall this year, Ren said the government itself should be blamed for the escalating prices as it emphasised too much on imposing tax measures.

He said last year the national consumption was 6.4 trillion yuan (RM3.14tril) but 4.8 trillion yuan went to the government as tax.

“If the government is really serious about addressing the bubble in the property market, it should stop using administrative measures and revamp the land system. Unless it does so, I think prices will continue to increase,” he said.

Pan: “Let me interpret what Ren had said. Initially, I thought we were believers of the market economy but now it seems that Ren’s approach is that of a planned economy. We cannot predict the price of tomorrow in a market economy. You think you are God?”

Ren: “Don’t explain on my behalf, that is your opinion. Our problem is that the more we adjust the housing policies, the higher the price will go.”

Ren and Pan are two outspoken property tycoons and often at loggerheads in forums and television programmes in which they are invited as guest speakers, as well as on their microblogs.

Due to their age difference of 12 years, Ren and Pan are two generations of entrepreneurs. The former left the military and joined the industry in 1984 while the latter started his career as an officer in the petroleum research department of the Langfang government in Hebei province.

Pan ventured into the industry with Feng Lun, Wang Gongquan and others in 1991 by borrowing over 10 million yuan (RM4.9mil) to buy and sell properties in Hainan. Together they set up the now leading developer in Beijing, Vantone Co Ltd.

Pan then left Vantone and co-founded SOHO China with his wife Zhang Xin in 1995. The couple began a legacy of their own transforming office buildings into SOHO-style residential-cum-office space.

The relationship between Pan and Ren is a love-hate one. Pan had his first taste of Ren’s aggression and straightforwardness when the latter told him off for knowing nothing about the property development process in 1993.

However, Pan, who was then sent by Feng, still bought a prime land for Vantone from Ren’s company. In 2000, Pan invited Ren for a viewing session of his SOHO Xiandai Cheng sample units.

After that, Ren did not give Pan any constructive view on his project but instead wrote a commentary that the SOHO properties looked weird and would eventually be blasted if the design of the buildings was not changed.

Pan slammed back with an article elaborating the SOHO concept. In the next five to six years, both of them entered into a war of words by voicing out their differences.

But, Pan’s impression of Ren changed to the better after Ren invited him to his birthday party in 2006. Despite their generation gap and differences in thinking and ways of doing things, the two have since become the “inseparable pair” and shown mutual respect and trust for each other.

When asked whether he would consider Pan’s self-esteem when criticising him, Ren once told Jinling Evening News that real friends would not consider those things.

“Ren Zhiqiang is a natural fighter and he and I were born to be a pair…No matter how furious we fight with each other, I still view him as my best rival and brother,” Pan said.

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