The company had fixed assets and working capital on Dec. 31 of either $3.2 million or $7.8 million -- depending on which company publication one believes. (Chinese accounting is often more creative than consistent.) In any case, there seems to be more muscle than the numbers suggest. Land says it plans to spend $10 million building up its new travel agency, and the new airport project would eventually cost $100 million if approved, although much of it would presumably be borne by the local government and banks.

Most of China's 21 million entrepreneurs, of a population approaching 1.2 billion, own tiny shops or street stalls. But there are also about 100,000 larger private businesses, employing an average of 20 people each, and many are growing exponentially.

Still, Mr. Mu stands out, and not just for his wealth. Most heads of companies in China are careful to stick to the Communist line, praising socialism while practicing capitalism. But in the course of a three-hour interview, Mr. Mu, while never quite criticizing Communist doctrine, left the impression that he lost the faith some time ago. Asked if he is a Communist Party member, he and several assistants laugh.

"None of us are party members here," said an adviser, chuckling.

Land was born in Wan County, Sichuan Province, as a shop the size of a walk-in closet, and Mr. Mu's first payoff was in discovering that some of the cheapest merchandise was available from the army.

"The army doesn't understand its costs," he explained. "For example, there was a factory there that made artillery shells, so it had plenty of very expensive, high-grade brass for the shells. It used some of the brass to make clocks, but it didn't take into account the cost of the brass in pricing the clocks."

So Mr. Mu went to Shanghai, which was then desperately short of clocks, and sold 10,000 of the army-made brass timepieces at a huge profit.

Business progressed rapidly, but county authorities were suspicious of anyone who made too much money. In 1983, they arrested him. Mr. Mu and his friends appealed to everyone they could think of. In 1984, Beijing officials, eager to show they encouraged private business, ordered him released. Wan County tried to make amends by giving Mr. Mu special loans, which he accepted. But he moved his headquarters to Beijing.