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For years, China’s 7ft, 6-inch basketball superstar Yao Ming used his height to slam dunk over the heads of opponents. Now he’s counting on his larger than life profile — one of China’s most recognisable — to raise capital at home and abroad.
在很多年时间里，中国篮球超级巨星姚明曾利用自己7英尺6英寸的身高在对手头顶灌篮得分。如今，他正依靠自己与众不同的外形——中国最易于识别的形象之一——在境内外筹集资金。
Mr Yao is among a growing cohort of athletes, supermodels, actors and pop stars in China leveraging their celebrity to tap the country’s lush investor base. Luminaries in the country have succeeded in raising billions of renminbi in recent years as total subscription in China’s private equity industry swells to more than Rmb12tn ($1.8tn) this year.
在中国，越来越多的运动员、超模、演员及流行歌手都在利用自身的名气吸引国内树大根深的投资者群体，姚明便是其中一员。中国的名人近年来在私募界已成功筹集数十亿人民币。今年，中国私募股权行业的认缴总额已逾12万亿元人民币（合1.8万亿美元）。
The stardom has certainly helped launch the investing career of 36-year-old Mr Yao, who played for nine seasons on the US basketball team the Houston Rockets before retiring in 2011 with a foot injury.
体育明星的身份无疑对36岁的姚明开启投资生涯大有裨益。姚明曾在美国休斯顿火箭队(Houston Rockets)效力9个赛季，后于2011年因脚伤退役。
While well-known in the US, Mr Yao has risen to immense fame in China, becoming a symbol of China’s growing status on the international stage. He has even been inducted as a member of a national political body that meets once a year in Beijing.
在被美国人熟知的同时，姚明在中国也名声日隆，并成为中国在国际舞台上地位不断提升的象征。他甚至还成为每年在北京召开一次会议的全国性政治机构——中国人民政治协商会议——的一名委员。
Yao Capital, Mr Yao’s fund that he co-founded with Carlyle veteran David Han last year, has already attracted Rmb2bn and plans to raise a US dollar fund sometime this year. Mr Han says the Yao name opens doors and helps with fundraising.
去年，姚明与曾供职凯雷(Carlyle)的资深投资人韩大为(David Han)共同创立了曜为资本(Yao Capital)。该基金已筹得20亿元人民币，并计划在今年募集一支美元基金。韩大为表示，姚明的名字为我们打开了大门，有助于筹资。
“The reason why we call it Yao Capital is for brand awareness,” Mr Han says. “Wherever we go, in Europe or the US, people know who Yao is.”
“我们称该基金为Yao Capital，原因是为了品牌认知，”韩大为说，“无论走到哪里，无论在欧洲还是美国，人们都知道Yao是谁。”
