Though he uses several names, he was born Xu Jinghua.

ECONOMIST: China International Fund

Far removed from the crowded Haidian tech district and the copycat mentality, Xu says he and his team were calmer, more Zen-like in their approach.

FORBES: Chinese Tech Star Jack Xu Looks To PaPa For His Next Hit

Drawing an analogy with the originality of Steve Jobs, Xu tells how he and his co-founders huddled in a meeting room of the loft for two months, thinking up new mobile apps that would be easy to use and win over lots of users.

FORBES: Chinese Tech Star Jack Xu Looks To PaPa For His Next Hit

The following year he received an unsolicited visit from Kathy Xu, who was running a venture fund for Baring Private Equity Partners.

FORBES: Game Boy: Billionaire William Ding Lei Has A Few Fantasies Of His Own

Inside, there were heated exchanges as he sat down opposite Collum Coal Mine Director Xu Jian Rui.

BBC: China in Zambia: Jobs or exploitation?

Talking to Xu, it's clear that he is not quite a superstar yet.

WSJ: Four Chinese Table-Tennis Stars Expanding Sport's Popularity

When Charles Zhang, the founder of Chinese portal Sohu, bought ChinaRen in 2000, Xu stayed on for a few more years until 2005 when he rejoined Chen at Oak Pacific Interactive and worked on the social networking site Chen acquired in 2006, Xiaonei, later renamed Renren.

FORBES: Chinese Tech Star Jack Xu Looks To PaPa For His Next Hit