The Richest Women in China

We recently published an article that looked at the richest men in China, a country that is creating millionaires and billionaires at a faster rater than any other. Of course, wealth isn’t dominated by men in this country just like it isn’t dominated by men in other countries. There are plenty of female billionaires and millionaires in China, and in this article we’ll look at the 15 richest.

15. Qianqian Luo

Luo is the owner and founder of Shanda Interactive Entertainment, a media company. She is only in her mid-thirties, which makes her one of China’s youngest self-made millionaires.

14. Tan Li

Tan Li, along with her husband Li Li, owns a pharmaceutical company that produces the drug Heparin, among others. Her husband owns slightly more of the company than she does, but it has still helped her to accumulate a wealth of $770 million.

13. Yaxian Zhou

Shenghuan Holdings produces around 4 out of every five sausage casings in China, as well as a number of other collagen casings. You wouldn’t think that that would account for much wealth, but its chairman and president, Yaxian Zhou, has around $800 million thanks to this monopoly.

12. Jufang Lei

Jufang Lei is a pioneer in Tibetan medicine, which she has used to generate a wealth of around $1 billion. She is one of the most influential woman in China, as well as one of the richest.

11. Xi Huang

Xi Huang began life as a math teacher in a middle school, but that changed when she joined the Good First company and helped it to grow. She also holds more shares in the Minsheng Bank than anyone else, which is why her wealth has been estimated to be as high as $1 billion.

10. Jinxia Chen

Jinxia Chen owes her billionaire status to her husband, Wei Dong, who died in 2008 and left his money to her. Wei Dong was a successful entrepreneur and as well as a fortune, he also left his wife shares in a number of companies.

9. Chun Yuan Wu

With a net worth of around $1.3 billion, Chun Yuan Wu owes her wealth not just to one company, but rather to a number of them. She is a keen investor and has already created a number of start-ups. Her portfolio includes AAC Technologies and Shenzhen Meiou.

8. Un Chan Chan

Un Chan Chan is an investor, focusing on overseas companies and investment portfolios. She has been married to some well connected people, including Dr. Stanley Ho. and her net worth of just under $1.5 billion is thanks to investments in everything from hotels and real estate to transportation. She doesn’t hoard her money though and is regarded as a big philanthropist.

7. Yin Zhang

Yin Zhang is the founder of China’s biggest paper company, Nine Dragons Paper Holdings. She started out with a little less than $4k, realizing that China was in need of paper and packaging materials, and filling a gap with a company that soon became the biggest in its industry. Today, Yin Zhang’s wealth has been estimated at around $1.6 billion.

6. Xiuli Hawken

Xiuli Hawken has been around, with a wealth of experience as well as money. She began as a reporter and even moved to England to study and to learn English. It was there she married a teacher, whose surname she took, before she moved back to China. Back in her home country she made her millions through real estate, before turning those millions into a little less than $2 billion.

5. Qiaonv He

With a net worth of a little over $2 billion, Qiaony is a self-made billionaire who owns a little more than half of Beijing Orient Landscape, which is by far the biggest landscaping company in the country. Her husband has been by her side throughout, but judging by the fact that he only owns 11% of the company, it is fair to assume that her role in their combined success has been considerably greater than his.

4. Lihua Chen

As well as being one of the richest women in China, Lihua Chen is also a celebrated philanthropist. This is thanks to her upbringing, which was difficult by all accounts. She was born into a very poor family and clearly never forgot about the struggles of herself and her family, doing her best to share her accumulated wealth of $2.7 billion with those who needed it the most.

3. Xin Zhang

A self-made billionaire, Xin Zhang made her money in real estate, as did so many other billionaires in China. She is the president of SOHO China, which is the largest property developer in the capital city, Beijing. Today she sits on a wealth of around $3.5 billion, but when she was younger, she lived with her mother and could barely afford the money she needed to pay for an overseas education. Still, she managed to achieve her goals in that regards, before returning to China and making her billions.

2. Yajun Wu

Wu has a number of links to big business and bigger money, which is why her wealth is greater than $4 billion. As well as being the widow of John Walton, the son of the owner of Walmart, she also set up the Longfor Properties Real Estate Company with another ex husband, and she is still the CEO of that company to this day. Yajun Wu is also a member of the National People’s Congress.

1. Huiyan Yang

As well as being the richest person on this list, with a wealth close to $6.5 billion, Yang is also the youngest. Her wealth comes courtesy of her father, who is the founder of Country Garden Holdings. She is the vice president of the company and is set to take over once her father passes. She may be young, but she is certainly not inexperienced as her father has been preparing her for this role for a number of years. So much so that it is reported she was sitting in on board meetings when she was still a child, and was given an advanced role at the company as soon as she finished her formal education.