But that has not diminished the ambitions of George Wang, the chairman of the AIMS Financial Group, which acquired the exchange in October 2008. Wang, who arrived here from China in November 1988 as a 26-year-old English language student, hopes to capitalise on the voracious appetite for stock market listings by Chinese companies despite the recent downturn.

Before this year's plunge in Chinese shares, which at one stage wiped out more than $US3 trillion ($4 trillion) in market value, 500 mainland Chinese companies were lined up to list on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A stock markets, according to investment bankers and fund managers in Hong Kong.

Now the plans of these Chinese companies are in limbo after Beijing froze initial public offerings, which were blamed for contributing to a stock market bubble. In the year ended May 31, Chinese stocks available to mainland investors soared 119 per cent in Shanghai and 121 per cent in Shenzhen.

The stock turmoil has not curbed Wang's optimism that his stock exchange can act as a bridge between capital-hungry Chinese companies and the more than $2 trillion in Australia's pension funds.

Wang also thinks his stock market can be a tonic for the Chinese market volatility that can scare off everyday investors. In 2015, Chinese initial public offerings on average rose about 44 per cent on their first day of trading, according to a banker based in Hong Kong, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Such offerings sometimes rose by their 10 per cent daily limit for a few days after that.

"China's market is up and down, but Asia Pacific exchange is market for long term," said Wang, whose gregarious personality features plenty of smiles and a touch on the arm or leg of the person he speaks with.

Wang, who is 53, has always seen the potential in Australia. Born in Qionghai on the island of Hainan to a local government official and a stay-at-home mother, Wang studied environmental engineering at Chinese Eastern University in Shanghai, graduating in 1984. He got a job with the government in Guangdong, the Chinese province that borders Hong Kong.

A new start

But Wang grew dissatisfied and restless and he looked for a new start. He decided to go to Australia where he felt there were more opportunities for him to make a mark because its smaller population meant less competition.

After 12 months of English and computer courses, Wang got a job as a salesman for AMP, Australia's biggest insurer, paid only if he persuaded people to buy an insurance or investment product.

After three months without earning money, Wang put an advertisement in The Australian Chinese Daily asking Chinese immigrants if they would like to "save thousands of dollars" in taxes by investing in the country's new pension plan. The next day he made about $20,000.

But by 1991, Wang had tired of AMP and the spotty record of its fund managers, which made him uncomfortable when he spoke to his clients. He started AIMS.

Wang's ready smile vanishes and his features harden when asked about AIMS' shareholders, its annual sales and profits and his personal stake in the company. "Confidential," is his reply.

He is similarly tight-lipped about his personal life. Wang became an Australian citizen in 1994 and has been married for more than 15 years to a "wife from China." He lives with his wife and daughter in the eastern suburb of Rose Bay. He says he needs just four hours of sleep, and he rises at 5 am to meditate for as much as an hour.

AIMS has arranged about $8 billion worth of home loans and about $3 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities, according to its website. The company has also raised more than $1 billion from foreign investors to invest in Australian real estate.

Australia grants permanent residency to people who have at least $5 million to make "complying investments in Australia." Under Australia's business migration program, China's affluent immigrants have bought prime real estate, opened bank accounts and sent their children to live in their new homes in the face of an anti-corruption drive by President Xi Jinping.

In 2007, Wang was having dinner with then-Prime Minister John Howard, who warned the group of about a dozen businessmen that Deutsche Bank, among others, was predicting a crash in the US housing market. Wang decided to stop issuing mortgage-backed securities, thus avoiding losses that crippled other financial firms.

"Important to listen to people who know more," he simply said of his business decision.

The next year, Wang was among the top sponsors of Australia's Olympic team at the Beijing Olympics, rubbing shoulders with then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Weeks later, he was asked if he wanted to buy the Asia Pacific Stock Exchange from local stockbroker Austock just after the collapse of Lehman Bros.

"I wanted to be [a] bridge of Australia [to] Asia," Wang said.

In May, AIMS acquired the failed stockbroker BBY, which Wang envisions as part of his growing empire. Wang wants to open BBY offices throughout Asia and transform the company into an important broker of capital flows in the region as he lobbies regulators to approve his plans for the Asia Pacific Stock Exchange.

It is in discussing his vision of the future that his optimism turns steely serious.

"I know I can't make a mistake," Wang said.

The New York Times