Cheung Yan (張茵)

Company: Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited (玖龍紙業(控股)有限公司)

Headquarters: Guangdong

Main focus: Cardboard paper

Title: Chairwoman

Age: 54

Cheung Yan opened a paper trading company in Hong Kong in 1985, and then moved to America where she founded the wastepaper recycling company America Chung Nam in 1990. She returned to China in 2005 and settled in Dongguan, Guangdong, where she established Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd., which went public in March 2006.

Zhang's company, America Chung Nam, has been the number one American paper exporter since 2001, and Nine Dragons Paper Holdings has become the biggest cardboard paper maker in Asia. In 2010, Zhang's personal fortune was estimated at about US$5.6 billion, and according to the Hurun Rich List 2011, she has a net worth of US$4.4 billion as of September this year.