Dai Zhikang, chairman of Shanghai Zendai Investment Group

The young founder of a massive real estate development firm based in Shanghai, China, is visiting New York City this week with a hope to build a mixed-use project here sometime within the next 10 years. While Dai Zhikang, chairman of Shanghai Zendai Investment Group, has not bought any property and has no project plans, he already has set himself apart from most Chinese real estate executives touring the city these days: he wants to build his own project, not just invest in something. “I have no interest to buy [exclusively as an investor]. I just want to develop,” he said in an interview yesterday in a representative’s office overlooking Union Square. Dai was ranked 127th richest person in China with a net worth of $410 million, according to a Forbes ranking of the wealthiest 400 Chinese in 2008. [more]