South Beauty restaurant. [File photo]

Ambitious moves

"It was a bold decision, as rents were high, but I knew the returns would also be high," she said. The results proved she was right.

In 2006, she opened Lan Club, a luxury restaurant in Beijing, and spent nearly 200 million yuan collecting art from around the world to decorate it.

She also invited Philippe Starck, the French designer, to design the restaurant. She paid him 12 million yuan for the work, while the restaurant facelift involved a total investment of 300 million yuan.

"I was not disheartened when some people said that I threw money away like dirt and 12 million yuan was too much for a design draft. But I got great publicity and brand recognition with this design, far more than what is received by most companies which spend millions of yuan on television advertisements. Not everyone in China can boast of a Starck design in their restaurant," Zhang said.

The group also founded the SUBU club in Beijing in 2007 and opened another Lan Club in Shanghai in 2008. These three restaurants are now under the direction of her son Danny Wang, CEO of South Beauty Group.

Last year, the group was rated by the China Hotel Association as one of the top 10 Chinese restaurant brands.

Luo Yun, who looks after the group's marketing activities, said the main reason why other senior executives of the group strongly believe in Zhang is her ability to make the right decisions.

"She has great courage to do something bold and innovative. And the results often prove that she is right," Luo said.

Zhang said South Beauty Group is looking to list its shares to fund expansion.

"We hope to attract more investors and capital, but are still not sure where to list. It would mostly be a toss-up between the A-share market and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange depending on the market conditions," she said.

"Our mission is to promote authentic Chinese cuisine across the world. With Chinese economy growing steadily and its cultural influence gaining, it will not be long before we see some big global Chinese catering companies, much like McDonald's," Zhang added.