Unlike last year, when China sent its defence minister, Liang Guanglie, to the Shangri-La Dialogue, this year the highest-ranking Chinese delegate was a senior military academic, Lieutenant-General Ren Haiquan.

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Earlier Wednesday, Marlen Esparza earned a bronze medal in the 51-kilo flyweight category but narrowly failed to reach the gold-medal fight after a 10-8 semifinal loss to China's Ren Cancan, the world No. 1 and top seed.

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"There really are very few investment channels, " says Ren Jun, a 30-year-old media entrepreneur with investments in contemporary art, antiques, gold and silver.

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"I don't miss the red-eye flights or putting on pantyhose or the stress of not being within driving distance of my 20-month-old son, "says Ren Shimada Siegel, a former Novell marketing manager who now runs a placement agency from her home.

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The second was Ren Stelloh, who until July 2012 was CEO of PhaseOne Communications, a California strategic-messaging company.

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