Nine Dragons Paper

Zhang was born Zhang Xiuhua in 1957 in Shaoguan, Guangdong, the eldest of eight children; her father, a Red Army lieutenant, was jailed for three years during the Cultural Revolution for 'rightist activity,' which meant Zhang never attended college and began working young to support her family.

After working as a bookkeeper in a Guangdong textile factory and studying accounting at trade school, Zhang moved to Shenzhen to manage the accounting and trading departments of a paper-trading company as Shenzhen was becoming a special economic zone and export hub.

Nine Dragons Paper's business model involves buying scrap paper from the United States, importing it into China, and converting it mainly into cardboard for boxes used to export Chinese goods -- directly linking Zhang's fortune to the physical logistics of the US-China trade relationship.

As of the Hurun Report China Rich List 2013, Zhang ranked as the fourth-richest woman in mainland China and 24th richest overall; she was also reported in January 2007 to be a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.