Chinese Billionaire : Zhang Shiping
Early life
Zhang Shiping was born in 1946.[6] He received a degree in cotton testing from Anhui University of Finance and Economics.[7] He joined China’s national campaign of sending youth to countryside at 19.[7]
Career
Zhang Shiping founded Weiqiao Textile, the world’s largest cotton-textile maker, which is now headed by his daughter Zhang Hongxia.[1]
In 1981 when Zhang was 35, he was made general manager of Zuoping’s No. 5 Cotton Ginning plant. In 1994, he and other managers established their own cotton -processing business called Weiqiao Textile Co..[7] It eventually became the world’s largest cotton-yarn and denim maker and went public in Hong Kong in 2003.[7] Zhang decided to move to aluminum production, a completely new business, by then. That led to aggressive expansion of the company who was later renamed China Hongqiao Group Ltd..[7] Hongqiao later overtook Russian titan United Co. Rusal and China’s SOE Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. to become the largest producer in the world[7][4] and was listed in Hong Kong in 2011.[4]According to Forbes estimates, Zhang’s net worth is $4.7 billion, ranking 484th in Forbes Billionaires 2019 list.[4]
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