John Shen is the founder and CEO of American Lending Center (ALC), where he has pioneered the integration of senior loan origination with EB-5 financing. With degrees from Duke University and Peking University, he has led ALC in financing more than $1.4 billion in projects, creating over 140,000 U.S. jobs, and earning national recognition as SBA 504 Lender of the Year.
John founded ALC in June 2009. By the end of 2025, ALC had fully financed senior loan products for 135 qualified EB-5 projects in 31 states, lending over $2.3 billion. ALC’s lending practice has successfully created more than 140,000 new jobs nationwide since 2009. In October 2017, John received the Coleman Report’s “SBA 504 Lender of the Year Award” for his outstanding leadership and contributions to business lending across the nation. As an Economic Development Commissioner for the City of Long Beach, John also co-founded the first ever Long Beach Accelerator™ to support tech startups and to help promote foreign direct investments and international trade for the City.