Zhang Yin

Richest woman becomes richer
(Xinhua)Updated: 2006-10-13 10:35
Zhang Yin, who became a household name Wednesday morning for topping a recent list of China's richest people, is a billion yuan wealthier by the afternoon.
Born in a soldier's family in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Zhang was the eldest sister to seven children. She went to Hong Kong in 1985 and started her career in waste paper trading with 30,000 yuan.
Zhang defied financial hardships, cheating business partners and intimidation from local mafia to build up her wealth in the subsequent five years before moving to the United States with her husband in February 1990 to pursue her dream of becoming the "empress of waste paper".
Explaining her success, Zhang said it had a lot to do with luck"Good timing, geographical convenience and harmonious human relations (contributed to my success)," Zhang was quoted as saying.

Zhang Yin: building a business empire out of scrap
business china: 11th May 2007, 07:16 GMT
Money Week reports that in a rare interview, Zhang reminisced about her childhood. She came from a large family, and she remembered having meat on the table only during holidays. She said the lack of material things taught her to appreciate the value of possessions, and adds that her parents had always encouraged their children to face life head-on and solve their problems independently.