Coming up next is our special series - Faces of Reform and Opening up. It tells the stories of those outstanding individuals who have made significant achievements in their careers since China rolled out the landmark policy. Today, we take you to meet Chu Shijian, an entrepreneur from southern China's Yunnan province.

The highlands of Yunnan.

China's most famous oranges, known by the grower's surname -- Chu.

Bought as much for their taste as the man and the tales behind them.

CHU SHIJIAN "Growing good oranges takes heart. People always say, why do your oranges taste different? Look at the tree, the middle is hollow, you've got to prune, there's a lot of technical stuff in growing oranges, problems like farmers' irrigation, we have to get everything to work properly to come up with a product of this calibre."

Chu started his orange orchards in his seventies -- the third venture in his illustrious entrepreneurial career. Everybody thought he was out of his mind.

CHU SHIJIAN "Our friends were really concerned and said, 'this is hard work!' Even famous business people tried to talk us out of it, they said if we had financial difficulties they could take us in. I said that's not the point. Now we have created a special product, even orange farmers from the US are envious. Now we also pay tens of millions in taxes to the local government."

The orange business may be successful, but it pales in comparison to what Chu used to run -- Asia's largest tobacco company, Hongtashan Group.

CHU SHIJIAN "Back then, we were number one in China in quality and volume. That took maximum effort, it wasn't possible with any slacking off. For example, we used boilers, if we waited till they cooled to carry out maintenance, it would take too long. I would go in, even though it was so hot it singed my hair, I had to do it then and there. This motivated other people and we all did the best we possibly could."

Just when Chu thought he was on top of the world, a devastating blow--in 1999, he was jailed for corruption, along with his family -- he was released on medical parole in 2002.

CHU SHIJIAN "Even after we got out of jail, we still tried to do useful work. We feel some things are your own doing, and if people forgive you, then you should use whatever you have left to do good things for the country and for society, that way we achieve inner peace. A person needs to have strong faith. I think I am different to most people, I think you must contribute meaningfully to society, to the country."

Chu's wife of 63 years old, Ma Jinfen, was also working at Hongtashan when she was jailed.

MA JINGFEN "At the time I just thought I'd like to see him one last time, because I heard he would get the death sentence, that didn't happen. When he was in jail, I would go visit him every week. I got out first because my charge was opportunistic behaviour."

Aside from family, friends' support also helped Chu get through the darkest times. Jiang Baoquan, chairman of Nanjing Goldfoil Group, has been Chu's friend for over thirty years. 

JIANG BAOQUAN, CHAIRMAN NANJING GOLDFOIL GROUP "China's reform and opening up needs lots of entrepreneurs. The times make the heroes, and the heroes make the times. These are the people who can drive forward reforms. Because I have worked with Chu for a long time, I thought it was incomprehensible, unjust. So I wrote a lot of articles and publicly spoke on his behalf."

Coming out of jail, Chu went back to his hometown with his wife, and started afresh.

CHU SHIJIAN "We had no money for this orchard, friends lent us money, so we had to get it to work. Others lose money from this business, but we can make money from this land, we've gone from 160 to 650 hectares, and created three companies. It's not just for our own livelihoods but good for the country, for the society. I was confident about growing oranges, when we planted tobacco we were dealing with one hundred times the size of the orchard now, this is a piece of cake! My oranges sell well because costs are low and they taste great."

Chu's friendships built in a lifetime of business proved especially fruitful.

JIANG BAOQUAN, CHAIRMAN NANJING GOLDFOIL GROUP "When he was short of funds many would give him money in private, because they had all received help from him before. Within a few days, his bank account had more than ten million US dollars. Pursuit of excellence is in his genes, even with oranges, it has to be the best on the market. That's why the product is now so in demand there's a supply shortage."

At 90 years old, Chu is taking a backseat in the business, but his wife has assumed the mantle of entrepreneurship.

MA JINGFEN "I'm very busy, I'm also managing quite a few companies, sometimes when we have meetings, I don't go to bed until midnight, in the morning people ask me 'why are you up so early already?' No matter how tiring it is, I sleep well, eat well, and I work just as hard the second day. The key is a positive mindset."

The couple's steadfast love and entrepreneurship are inspiring to many.

MA JINGFEN "Actually a lot of people heading for retirement come here and change their minds, they listen to our story and say: 'I want to go back and work till the end.' Even those who want to divorce say they're going to make another go of it."

CHU SHIJIAN "Our country has prospered in the short time of forty years, we've gone from a very poor economy to the second largest in the world, this is remarkable! That's been possible because everyone has worked hard. So over the past forty years, we've always tried to focus on the positives."

The path of reform is neither linear nor simple, but the stayers triumph.