By Wu Xiaohan

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Leader of Overseas Chinese in Thailand Celebrates Heritage

By Wu Xiaohan

Li Mingru， Chairman of the Guangxi Association in Thailand

there are several prominent leaders in the Chinese community in thailand， home to the world’s largest population of overseas Chinese. It is hard to find one more influential，however， than Li Mingru. As Chairman of the Guangxi Association in thailand， Li is known across thailand for maintaining an active role in her community as well as for her kind and open-minded nature.

Li’s husband， Rao Peizhong， is the former Chairman of the Association of Overseas Chinese in Thailand. The pair have become a powerful husband-wife team， well known among thailand’s overseas Chinese population.

Rao was born and raised in thailand as a second-generation member of the overseas Chinese community there. His ancestral home is in the Rongxian County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southwest China.

Like many overseas Chinese， Rao felt a strong connection to his ancestral home. For years he toyed with the idea of establishing an association for people like him in Thailand，wanting to find a way to celebrate his cultural heritage. Speaking with a few senior members of the Guangxi community in Bangkok the late 1970s， Rao proposed the idea of establishing the Guangxi Association.

On May 12， 1981， the Kwangsi Association of thailand was launched， using thai spelling to describe Guangxi. Rao， then in his 30s， was appointed vice-chairman， and stayed there for six consecutive terms. By the seventh term， he was appointed chairman， and stayed there for the eighth.

Having played a key part in her husband’s role in the Kwangsi Association， Li developed a strong sense of belonging in the overseas Chinese community in Thailand. She began to take on more and more responsibility in the association， now known as the Guangxi Association （thailand）. With strong support， she took over as vice-chairman and secretary general of the association before becoming its first female chairman in 2013.

As is custom in the Guangxi Association，Li has not been paid for her services. She has served as an austere leader who upholds key organization principles and says exactly what she thinks.

Li’s tenure as chairman has opened up a new chapter in the history of the Guangxi Association. Known for her punctuality， Li expects organization members to arrive at meetings on time. Busy traffic or poor weather conditions are not valid excuses for a late arrival. Li likes to say that if one is not punctual，he/she is not only wasting other people’s time，but also showing a lack of respect.

Beyond emphasizing the conduct of organization members， Li has done much to broaden sources of revenue and reduce expenditure. She practices transparent and open bookkeeping， doing much to emphasize efficiency within her organization.

“Chaos in bookkeeping leads to chaos in the whole institution，” Li likes to say.

Li’s enthusiasm for her ethnic community has led her to contribute to the Guangxi Association in financial ways， too. Her dona-tions have covered much of the organization’s expenses， setting an example of generosity and philanthropy to fellow members.

Li elected chairman of the Association at the 16th Guangxi Association Worldwide Conference in Bangkok

In December 2013， the Guangxi Association hosted the 16th Guangxi Association Worldwide Conference in Bangkok. More than 1，000 overseas Chinese of Guangxi descent attended the event from all over the world. Ning Fukui， the Chinese Ambassador to thailand， attached great importance to the event， attending the opening ceremony and delivering a speech remarking on the togetherness of the Guangxi community. Li said she was deeply touched by the Chinese Ambassador’s appearance at the event and his comments.

The ancient Chinese art of guanxi （connections among peers） has played a role in the success of Li’s organization. During the Guangxi Association Worldwide Conference，numerous individuals and organizations provided Li with assistance. Chairman of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce Liu Jinting， Chairman of the Chaozhou Guild Cai Hanqiang， Chairman of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association Xu Maochun and Chairman of the Chiehshou Hall Charity Li Guanglong all othered financial support. The Thai-Chinese Jiushu Guild and the Thai-Chinese Women’s Association were also key benefactors. Attracting such a wide variety of supporters has provided fresh motivation for hard work within her organization， Li said.

In the three years since her appointment as chairman， Li has proved herself a strong manager and coordinated ethorts with members of her own organization as well as others harmoniously. Her organization has hosted visiting Chinese government delegations and industrial and commercial groups from Chinese provinces， particularly those from Guangxi Autonomous Region. She played an important role in hosting the 2014 Guangxi （Thailand） Commodities Fair and the 2015 China ASEAN （thailand） Expo， introducing the Guangxi Autonomous Region to thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia.

Overseas Chinese of Guangxi origin in Thailand mostly live in the south of the country. Decades ago， several other organizations similar to Li’s were established， and up until recently each Guangxi-related organization in Thailand operated mostly on its own. After Li assumed office， she made the decision to get in closer contact with these organizations so each could learn from one another. After Li’s outreach， the organizations treated one another as “brother guilds”，and she remains held in high esteem among members of each organization.

In September 2015， the annual ASEAN expo was held in Nanning， the capital of China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Li and her Guangxi Association were invited to the event， joining other organizations of overseas Chinese from southern Thailand in a delegation to visit the expo in Nanning. Her delegation met with the Secretary of the CPC Regional Committee as well as the Region’s chairman.

Li was traveling again in January 2016，attending the 11th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） Guangxi Regional Committee meeting as one of 86 overseas deputies， and the only one from Thailand. Leading panel discussions among overseas participants， Li said that Guangxi is entering an exciting time in its history.

“the official launch of ASEAN economic integration on December 31， 2015 gave an indication of the significance of the year 2016， not just as the first year of the ASEAN Economic Community， but also as the first year of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan，” Li said.“We are in this special era with numerous business opportunities as well as tremendous challenges. We， as overseas Chinese， should make positive efforts to contribute to the rapid development of our ancestral land of Guangxi with our own ideas and resources.”

How time has flown for Li and Rao. the pair are now grandparents. Harmony in family leads to every success is a famous saying in Mandarin and the pair’s three children have achieved success in both career and family. Fulin， their oldest， is in his 40s. He is a deputy manager at Beijing Construction Engineering Group （thailand）. Meilin， their daughter， manages a family business with assistance from Kanglin， Li and Rao’s second son. Kanglin also operates a boutique hotel business， and is the vice-president of Euro-Asia Food， an international food distribution company that operates across Asia.

Meilin has followed in her parents’footsteps by becoming a vice-chairman at the Guangxi Association （Thailand）. She was involved in hosting the 16th Guangxi Association Worldwide Conference in 2013.

Li hopes that the next generation of overseas Chinese in Thailand of Guangxi origin will continue to promote unity and prosperity among overseas Chinese inthailand. As is shown by their track record as well as their daughter Meilin’s enthusiasm for participation in their organization， Li and Rao have set a wonderful example of how to celebrate one’s ancestry.