Wang isn't just a caretaker of China's largest fixed-line telecommunications operator. He's aggressively pushing the state-owned enterprise to install the world's largest fiber-optic network in a bid to offer Internet services to every city in China. (Today less than 25% of the population has access to the Net.) And like his counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, Wang sees a bright future in mobile services. Last year the company added more than 8 million new 3G subscribers, helping boost revenue 5% to $32.5 billion. And if rumors prove true and China Telecom is able to soon offer the iPhone 4 to its 96 million mobile customers (at presstime, rival China Unicom exclusively carries the device) Wang would become an important partner to Apple -- a powerful place to be indeed
--William Boccard
NEXT: 9. Jiang Jiemin
