Yang Mianmian (楊綿綿)

 Company: Haier Group (海爾集團)

Headquarters: Shandong

Main focus: Home appliances

Title: President

Age: 71

2011 Rank: 3

As co-founder and president of Haier Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of household appliances, Yang Mianmian is one of the most powerful businesswomen in the world and has been associated with the company for almost 30 years. She is considered to be Haier's rudder.

In July of this year, Haier ranked 62nd on the 2012 Top 500 Chinese Companies list. According to Fortune's Chinese website, by the end of 2011, Haier's revenue had reached 73.66 billion yuan (US$11.8 billion), up 21.5 percent year-on-year. Its profit achieved 2.69 billion yuan (US$431.2 million), up 32.1 percent year-on-year.