The People’s Republic of China has evolved into one of the richest countries of the world in just a few decades. According to data published by the World Bank in 2019, the Gross Domestic Product or GDP of China has had a sharp increase since 1990, with the number climbing almost exponentially. David Mann, global chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank, commented on this rapid economic growth, stating that “From the end of the 1970s onwards we’ve seen what is easily the most impressive economic miracle of any economy in history.”
This success can be accredited to a number of reasons. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization, beginning the boom of Chinese goods in World trade. Research published by London School of Economics further illustrated this massive increase. By 1985, exports were $25 billion, $15 billion more than what they were 9 years ago in 1976. Just 25 years later, in 2010, exports valued at an amount of $3 trillion dollars; 300 times more than what the value was in 1985.
As trade between nations increased, so did the Chinese public’s interest in entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur is someone who participates in the act of setting up a business, while also bearing the effects of this risk in hope of a profit. A good business idea has the power to rake in millions but getting to that point where profit is being generated consistently can be a long, difficult journey.
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The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is one platform which studies entrepreneurial behavior and attitudes of several countries across the world. Data collected in 2019 for China showed that 9.33 percent of the public (ages 18-64) owned an established business. This included those who are owning and managing a running business that has paid salaries, wages, or any other payments to the owners for more than 42 months. The same platform also displayed data on the attitude of Chinese society towards entrepreneurs. Almost 80 percent of people agreed with the statement that in their country, most people consider starting a business as a desirable career choice.
All this evidence points towards the fact that in general, entrepreneurs are viewed in a quite favorable light by the Chinese public. Because of this, those entrepreneurs who have a considerable reach may have the distinct power of influencing those around them. Whether this is by inspiring the population with their success story, or by introducing a revolutionary idea through their product, Chinese entrepreneurs have affected the general public in one way or another.
For this reason, we have prepared a list of the 12 most influential Chinese entrepreneurs. To prepare their ranking, we have used Fortune China and Forbes as our source, ranking each business leader based on not only their company’s success, but also their influence on the general public. Let us look at the 12 most influential Chinese entrepreneurs, starting with number 12.
12. Zhang Jindong
Date of Birth: March 28, 1963 (age 57 years)
Occupation: Co-founder and Chairman of Suning
Net Worth: $62.1 billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
The first person to grace our list of 12 most influential Chinese entrepreneurs is 57-year-old Zhang Jindong. Zhang is the chairman of Suning.com, one of the largest retailers in China, and is said to be among the top 3 in the Chinese e-commerce industry. Zhang has certainly come a long way from when he first started the company in 1998 as an air-conditioning store. Throughout the years, he has diverged into many markets, moving from air conditioning to home appliances to online shopping. Zhang is also the owner of a privately-held company called Suning Holdings Group, which is particularly famous for having acquired the famous Italian football club Inter Milan. In 2019, Suning.com acquired 80% of Wanda Department Store and Carrefour China, increasing the reach of his company even further.
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11. Wang Xing
Date of Birth: February 18, 1979 (41 years)
Occupation: Co-founder and CEO of Meituan
Net Worth: $30.5 billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
With a net worth of over 30 billion, Wang Xing has achieved great monetary success at a young age. In 2010, Wang founded the company Meituan, an application which connects consumers with businesses, offering different vouchers for a variety of retail services including entertainment, dining, delivery, and travel. The business model is similar to that of the American service Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), while Meituan itself boasts an aspiration to be the Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) of services. Having built Meituan to become a multi-billion dollar company, that dream doesn’t seem too far off. Meituan, formerly known as Meituan Dianping after the two companies’ merger, is not the only entrepreneurial stint of Wang. In 2005 and 2007 he created Chinese versions of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), called Xiaonei and Fanfou respectively. Although not at the level of Meituan, both websites proved to be hits for Wang, and showcased his drive for being a business leader.
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10. Xu Jiayin (Hui Ka Yan)
Date of Birth: October 9, 1958 (age 62 years),
Occupation: Founder and Chairman of Evergrande Group
Net Worth: $28 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
According to Forbes, Xu is the tenth richest man in China today. His company, Evergrande, is the second-largest property developer in the country by sales, generating a revenue of over 69 billion dollars in 2019. Although it is true that he has plenty of wealth in the present, Xu came from very humble beginnings. His mother passed away when he was only 8 months old, while his father was a retired soldier. He grew up in a rural family in a remote Chinese village, working for a cement product factory for a few years after high school. After graduating from university, he worked for several companies, climbing to the rank of director. At age 39, he decided to start his own company, named Evergrande, which currently ranks within the first 200 on the Fortune Global 500 and is a top competitor in the Real Estate Market. In recent years, Evergrande has invested over 43 billion dollars in new energy vehicles, and is said to be aiming to compete with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) in the electric vehicle market.
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9. Lei Jun
Date of Birth: December 16, 1969 (age 51 years)
Occupation: Founder, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Technology
Net Worth: $27.7 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
Known as China’s Steve Jobs, Lei is the founder of the leading smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. In fact, Xiaomi has now surpassed Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to be the 3rd largest smartphone maker in the world. In just nine years, Lei has led the company to become the youngest company on the Global Fortune 500 list last year, debuting at rank 468. He was also named Businessman of the Year by Forbes in 2014. Besides running an incredibly successful business, Lei has been active in relief efforts during the coronavirus pandemic in China. His company donated thousands of supplies to hospitals in Wuhan including 1,750 millet tablets, air purifiers, infrared thermometers, and walkie-talkies.
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8. Li Shufu
Date of Birth: June 25, 1963 (age 57 years)
Occupation: Founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group
Net Worth: $22.3 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
Owner of the car manufacturing giant Geely, Li has been working on his company for the past 34 years. Now, Geely is the second largest private automobile manufacturer in China, selling 1,320,217 units in 2020. In 2008, Geely acquired the brand Volvo from the American car company Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and also bought shares of the German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. However, Li’s dream is more than just making cars. In 2020, his company announced their decision to create a network of satellites to provide high-positioning precision services.
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7. Cao Dewang
Date of Birth: May 1946 (age 74 years)
Occupation: Founder and chairman of Fuyao Glass Industry Group
Net Worth: $5 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
Owner of the glass manufacturer Fuyao Glass, Cao Dewang rose to international spotlight when the company invested in a car glass plant in Ohio. This move and its impacts were even documented in the film “American Factory”, released on Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) in early 2019. The film showed the real-life story of how Cao Dewang, a billionaire, created 2,000 jobs for Americans with just one investment in a small city in Ohio. The film went on to win the Academy Awards for Best Documentary as well, showing that Cao Dewang deserves his place on our list of 12 most influential entrepreneurs.
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6. Terry Gou
Date of Birth: October 18, 1950 (age 70 years)
Occupation: Founder and CEO of Hon Hai Precision, Foxconn
Net Worth: $9.1 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
Hon Hai Precision (better known as Foxconn) is recognized worldwide for making Apple products, though its customer list includes other big names such as Dell Inc (NYSE: DELL) and Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE). The story of how the founder, Terry Gou, first started out, however is far from glamorous. First operating out of a rented warehouse in Taiwan, Gou spent the first few years trying to gain customers for his business. It is said that he was so persistent and motivated that he would have security called on him frequently when visiting offices in the US uninvited. Gou has also delved into politics and was even in the running for the 2020 presidential election of China, though he later dropped out.
5. Zhang Yiming
Date of Birth: April 1983 (age 37 years)
Occupation: Founder, Chairman and CEO of ByteDance (parent company of TikTok)
Net Worth: $16.2 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
At only 37 years old, the owner and founder of the parent company of TikTok is the youngest business leader on our list of 12 most influential Chinese entrepreneurs. In just 8 years, Zhang has reached billionaire status while simultaneously changing the definition of mainstream social media. Tiktok, formerly known as Musical.ly has been downloaded over 2.6 billion times worldwide, in which the US market plays a pivotal role. Chinese platforms Toutiao and Douyin are also incredibly popular, delivering content to the public in a variety of ways.
4. Ma Huateng
Date of Birth: October 29, 1971 (age 49 years)
Occupation: Founder, Chairman and CEO, Tencent Holdings
Net Worth: $70.1 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
Tencent is the developer of many recognizable products such as Tencent QQ, WeChat, and PUBG, with activity in a number of industries including entertainment, video games, comics, music, e-commerce, medicine, and augmented reality. Tencent also helped source 1.2 million masks for American medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ma’s company is regarded as one of the most financially valuable companies in the world, and is a leading force in the technology world.
3. Wang Chuanfu
Date of Birth: April 8, 1966 (Age 54 years)
Occupation: Founder of BYD Company
Net Worth: $22.1 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
The founder of automobile giant BYD (Build Your Dreams) grew up without parents, as part of a family of poor farmers. At just 29 years old, he founded the company BYD, which has now gone on to become one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the world. In 2008 Warren Buffet, founder of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A), bought 225 million new shares of BYD which catapulted its value and made Wang China’s richest man in 2009. Since then, the company’s success has only increased, with plans to launch a newly developed “blade battery” with better performance than any other battery seen in the world yet.
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2. Ren Zhengfei
Date of Birth: October 25, 1944 (Age 76 years)
Occupation: Founder of Huawei Technologies
Net Worth: $1.4 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
At 76 years, Ren is the oldest entrepreneur to grace our list. Initially starting the company with just 5,000 dollars, he has managed to bring Huawei to what it is today, a company worth over 160 billion dollars. Recently, Huawei was accused of conducting cyber-espionage by several countries all over the world. In the face of this company crisis, the founder was able to appear calm and composed as he answered questions and provided details about the scandal. Since then, Huawei has worked on improving key areas such as chips and mobile phones.
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1. Jack Ma
Date of Birth: September 10, 1964 (Age 55 years)
Occupation: Founder and director of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)
Net Worth: $62.1 Billion (as of January 2nd, 2021)
Topping our list of 12 most influential Chinese entrepreneurs is none other than the founder and director of e-commerce giant, Jack Ma. Ma is currently ranked as the richest person in China, with a net worth of over 62 Billion dollars. Before starting his company, Ma worked as an English teacher at university. He struggled with doing well academically, and is said to have given the college entrance exam three times before finally passing. He speaks about his time then very candidly in interviews, sharing details about the struggle and hard work which brought him to his current position. Today, Alibaba is the top e-commerce company in the world with over 117,000 employees. Jack Ma announced his retirement in 2019, stepping down from the role of executive chairman of Alibaba Group. At the time of this news, he clarified his intentions, stating “Resignation does not mean retirement, it just has more time and energy to do what you want to do.”
See also: 15 biggest retailers in the world heading into 2021 and top 20 richest people in the world
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.