Walk through Shanghai and you may encounter an unusual phenomenon: people interested in Jewish history, culture and education not necessarily because of religious curiosity, but because of a widespread belief that Jews possess special knowledge about business, education and wealth creation.

This fascination has developed over several decades and has created an entire market of books, courses and businesses promising to reveal supposedly “Jewish secrets” of success.

But behind this phenomenon is a much more complicated story.

The Search for the “Secret” to Success

At the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, two young Chinese aspiring entrepreneurs once explained that they had come to learn “how to be like the Jews.”

Their perception was straightforward: Jews were supposedly wealthy, clever and successful in business.

The encounter illustrates a broader phenomenon described by researchers studying Chinese perceptions of Jews. Since the 1990s, Jewishness has increasingly been associated in some Chinese popular culture with education, intelligence, entrepreneurship and financial success.

These associations, however, are stereotypes rather than characteristics that can accurately describe an entire ethnic or religious group.

From Suspicion to Admiration

China’s perception of Jews has changed considerably over time.

The source material notes that many Chinese people historically had very little direct contact with Jewish communities. Literature provided some of their earliest exposure to Jewish characters, including Shakespeare’s Shylock.

The transformation became particularly significant when China began embracing market-oriented economic policies and entrepreneurship.

According to historian Xun Zhou, the image of the successful and intelligent Jewish entrepreneur became useful as China increasingly valued entrepreneurship and economic success.

In this environment, “Jewish” could become shorthand in popular culture for qualities such as:

• Hard work
• Education
• Business ability
• Financial success
• Entrepreneurship

But this simplified image does not represent the diversity of Jewish people around the world.

The Business of “Jewish Secrets”

As interest grew, entrepreneurs recognized a market.

Books appeared claiming to reveal Jewish approaches to wealth and business, including titles about the “secrets” of the Talmud and Jewish success.

Some authors went much further, portraying Jews as possessing extraordinary intelligence and financial abilities.

One example cited in the source is He Xiongfei, whose publications presented highly exaggerated claims about Jewish intelligence, wealth and influence. Researchers quoted in the source argue that such portrayals tell us more about Chinese aspirations and perceptions than about Jewish people themselves.

In other words, the fascination may be less about discovering an actual “Jewish formula” and more about China’s own search for models of success.

Jewish Education Becomes a Product

The fascination has also created businesses offering Jewish or Israeli-inspired education.

Meirav Shacked, an Israeli immigrant and co-founder of BetterMe, developed programs aimed at Chinese parents interested in Israeli and Jewish approaches to education.

The program emphasizes ideas such as communication, creativity and emotional intelligence.

The attraction is understandable.

Israel has developed a strong international reputation for entrepreneurship and technology, while Jewish communities have a long history of education, scholarship and diaspora life.

But turning these complicated histories into a single formula for success can oversimplify reality.

Admiration Can Become Stereotyping

There is an important distinction between admiring achievements and stereotyping an entire population.

The idea that Jews are inherently smarter, richer or better at business is not supported simply because some successful individuals are Jewish.

Jewish people, like any large and diverse population, have different occupations, personalities, economic circumstances and educational backgrounds.

Professor James Ross, cited in the source, warns that positive stereotypes can also be unstable. What appears to be admiration can potentially change into negative stereotyping.

This is an important lesson for anyone interested in entrepreneurship: there is no ethnic shortcut to becoming successful.

What Can We Actually Learn?

Instead of asking:

“What makes Jews rich?”

A more useful question is:

“What practices associated with successful entrepreneurs can anyone learn?”

Those practices might include:

1. Value education

Developing useful knowledge and continuously learning can create opportunities in almost any industry.

2. Think long term

Successful businesses rarely appear overnight. Building skills, reputation, relationships and capital usually takes time.

3. Encourage questions

Education becomes more powerful when people are encouraged to ask questions rather than simply memorize information.

4. Build strong communities

Networks of family, friends, mentors, professionals and entrepreneurs can provide knowledge and opportunities.

5. Create value

Ultimately, wealth creation comes from providing something that other people value—whether that is a product, service, technology, education or entertainment.

The Bigger Lesson

The fascination with Jewish success in China reveals something interesting about entrepreneurship itself.

When people see another group achieving success, they naturally want to understand how they did it.

But looking for a secret formula can distract from the fundamentals.

There is no magic ethnic formula for becoming wealthy.

There are instead skills that people can develop regardless of their background:

Learn → Build skills → Solve problems → Create value → Develop relationships → Take calculated risks → Keep improving.

The real lesson may therefore have little to do with being Jewish or Chinese.

It is about the universal human desire to understand why some people and societies succeed—and how those lessons can be adapted without turning cultures or communities into stereotypes.