D espite a prolonged trade war and slowing GDP growth, China’s most resourceful entrepreneurs have found plenty of ways to get rich.In fact, 60 new billionaires, all but one of whom is self-made, debut among the nation’s 400 richest this year, many thanks to businesses catering to the citizens of the world’s most populous nation.These tycoons have made their fortunes in everything from biotech and electric car batteries to generic drugs and skin care products.At least half a dozen newcomers served up food or drinks to consumers, selling them duck necks, milk tea, nuts and hot pot condiments.Charles Zhengyao Lu had tried his hand at rental cars and a ride-hailing service but got rich thanks to an investment in Luckin Coffee, a popular two-year-old coffee chain that already has nearly 3,000 locations in China.A minimum net worth of $1 billion was needed to make the list of China’s 400 richest this year, up from $840 million last year.Altogether these newcomers, ranging in age from 33 to 74, are worth a combined $101 billion.That sum helped push up the total net worth of the nation’s 400 richest to $1.29 trillion, besting the previous record of $1.19 trillion set in 2017.
The surest way to break into the ranks in 2019 was to help educate the masses.
The fast-growing sector—Deloitte estimates that the Chinese education market will expand from roughly $380 billion in 2018 to $480 billion by 2020 and $715 billion by 2025—created seven new billionaires, including the richest newcomer, Li Yongxin .The education veteran is now worth $9.1 billion, thanks to this year’s backdoor listing of Offcn Education Technology, which tutors 2.3 million students annually, mostly for civil service exams, in 880 locations.His cofounder Wang Zhendong also became a billionaire, as did Wu Junbao , Wu Wei and Xiao Guoqing of China East Education, which went public in June in reportedly the biggest education IPO of all time, and Larry Xiangdong Chen , who took his online tutoring firm GSX Techedu public on the New York Stock Exchange the same month.
Another five newcomers got rich in pharmaceuticals.Hao Hong , who founded Asymchem Laboratories in North Carolina in 1995 after completing postgraduate research at the University of Georgia, returned to China three years later to expand his company.Today Asymchem conducts research and chemical production for pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb.Another pharma entrepreneur, Fan Minhua , started Poly Pharm in the island province of Hainan in 1992.The publicly traded firm, which makes generic drugs, is now worth over $2.3 billion.Fan is one of just four women among the newcomers, and one of just three who are self-made.
See below for the ten most notable new billionaires on the China Rich List.
Li Yongxin Net worth: $9.1 billion Age: 43 Source: education China’s richest new billionaire entered the education business in 1999 and soon turned his focus to providing prep services for civil service exams.
He cofounded Offcn Education Technology in 2010; it debuted on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2019 through a backdoor listing.The Beijing-based business, which offers training for applicants of civil service exams and other professional qualification exams, tutors 2.3 million students a year in 880 locations in 319 Chinese cities.Li’s fortune includes an Offcn stake owned by his mother, Lu Zhongfang, a retired pesticides factory worker who became an early investor in his business.
Robin Zeng Net worth: $5.9 billion Age: 50 Source: batteries His Shenzhen-listed Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), founded in 2011, is the world’s biggest electric-vehicle battery maker.Its customers include car companies Daimler, Volvo and Volkswagen.The Ningde, Fujian-based firm, which also has subsidiaries in Germany, France, Japan and Canada, opened its first North American sales and service center in Detroit in December 2018.
Zeng, who has a Ph.D.in physics, reportedly started a cellphone-battery company in Hong Kong years earlier; CATL was later spun out of that business.
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Sun Huaiqing Net worth: $3.1 billion Age: 50 Source: cosmetics Sun is the founder of Chinese cosmetics firm Guangdong Marubi Biotechnology.It’s best known for its popular Marubi eye creams and also makes skincare products under the Haruki brand.
Sun, who was once a production manager at an electric machinery factory, started working for a local cosmetics company in the mid-1990s before launching the predecessor to Marubi in 2002.
He later caught the attention of Bernard Arnault ’s LVMH, whose private equity arm L Capital purchased a minority stake in the firm in 2013.Marubi went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in June 2019; the French luxury-goods conglomerate still owns roughly 9% of the company, while Sun and his wife hold over 80%.
Wu Junbao Net worth: $2 billion Age: 53 Source: education Wu is the founder of China East Education Holdings, which went public in June, raising over $600 million in what was reportedly the world’s biggest education-related IPO to date.The company provides vocational training in information technology, internet technology, auto services and the culinary arts.It operates 145 schools in 29 provinces in China and Hong Kong, which altogether brought in over $450 million in 2018 revenue.Wu owns 34% of the firm, while his cousins, Wu Wei, and Xiao Guoqing, own 23% and 22% each.
Victor J.Blue/Bloomberg
Charles Zhengyao Lu Net worth: $1.9 billion Age: 50 Source: coffee chain A serial entrepreneur, Lu cofounded Hong Kong-listed rental car firm Car Inc.in 2007 and ride-hailing service UCar in 2015 before becoming an angel investor in Luckin Coffee.
The popular coffee chain, which was founded by a former executive at Lu’s startups, opened its first shop in October 2017.It has since taken China by storm with its minimalist, cashless stores and quick delivery services.As of July, it had nearly 3,000 locations.Lu derives the bulk of his fortune from a 26% stake in the firm, which went public on the Nasdaq in May 2019.
Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg
Jihan Wu Net worth: $1.8 billion Age 33 Source: cryptocurrency Cofounder of Bitmain, one of China’s largest cryptocurrency mining chip company, became its sole chairman after his cofounder Micree Zhan, with whom he ran Bitmain for years, was allegedly ousted from the company in October.
Bitmain reportedly filed for a U.S.IPO that same month, more than a year after a failed attempt to go public on Hong Kong’s stock exchange.Wu, who cofounded a crypto financial services startup called Matrixport in February, owns about 20% in Bitmain.
Zhang Liaoyuan Net worth: $1.6 billion Age: 43 Source: food A former electrician for a plastics packaging company, Zhang founded online snack vendor Three Squirrels in 2012.The company, which sells packaged nuts, seeds and dried fruits, quickly gained popularity with its colorful marketing.It opened its first brick-and-mortar location in 2016 —which it called a “feeding store”—and now has more than 70 shops across China.The $1 billion (sales) company went public in Shenzhen in July 2019.
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