The Rise of China's Female Billionaires

Click "ExpatLife" above to Subscribe.

Wechat ID: ExpatLife

ExpatLife

China has almost four times more self-made female billionaires than the US

The Hurun Report revealed earlier this year that 56 Chinese women have made more than a billion US dollars on their own grounds, far ahead of 15 in the US and eight in the UK. In fact, China nearly has nearly double the amount of female self-made billionaires than the rest of the top 10 countries combined (30 billionaires). 

Only six of the world’s top 100 tech billionaires are women. Three are Chinese

While tech continues to be a sector dominated by male CEOs, half of the world’s female tech billionaires are Chinese. They include Wang Laichun, chair of Luxshare Precision Industry (2.6 billion US dollars); touch screen queen Lam Wai Ying, who heads up Biel Crystal alongside her husband (5.2 billion US dollars); and Zhou Qunfei, the founder of Lens Technology. Zhou has an estimated worth of 10 billion US dollars. All three are in charge of top-of-the-range manufacturing companies that supply products to Apple.

Zhou Qunfei, founder of Lens Technology. /VCG Photo‍

China’s wealthiest woman is only 35

The wealthiest woman in China (and Asia) is currently Yang Huiyan, who at the age of 35 has amassed a net worth of seven billion US dollars from her 55 percent majority stake in her father’s property company Country Garden Holdings. China’s netizens are also fascinated by China’s "youngest billionaire," a 24-year-old woman named Zhang Zetian, who made her fortune after marrying JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong in 2015.

Zhang Zetian, a 24-year-old who went from an Internet phenomenon as "milk tea girl" to perhaps China's youngest billionaire. /VCG photo

However, while the top 10 Chinese female billionaires struggle to compete with their male counterparts when it comes to total wealth (38.02 billion US dollars versus 176.5 billion US dollars, according to Forbes), they match them when it comes to age – the men’s top 10 have an average age of 52.8 versus 52.9 for the women. Of the 10 Chinese billionaires aged under 40, only three are women.

Rags to riches

Many of China’s wealthiest people built up their fortunes from nothing, and there are many rags-to-riches tales among the female billionaires. Zhou Qunfei was a 15-year-old high school dropout and factory worker from a poor family in Hunan Province, who built up her glass technology empire by seizing the initiative in the early 2000s when mobile phones went main stream.

Zhang Xin, the billionaire founder of property empire SOHO. /VCG Photo

Likewise, Beijing-born Zhang Xin, the billionaire founder of property giant SOHO, also started as a low-level factory worker who went on to amass a net worth of 3.2 billion US dollars. 

Source: cgtn

Sponsored

  Trending  

What's your opinion?

let us know by commenting below!

ExpatLife

---

Send to Chat    Share on Moments