Beijing Real Estate Tycoon Zhang Xin Credits Education for Rise from Factory Worker to Billionaire
zhang Xin, dubbed “the woman who built Beijing,” has amassed a $3.3 billion fortune (approximately Rp. 54 trillion) through her real estate company, Hongshi, defying expectations in China’s traditionally male-dominated construction industry.Her journey, from a factory worker under Mao Zedong’s regime to one of the world’s wealthiest women, underscores the transformative power of education and challenges conventional gender roles in the workplace. As China’s property market evolves and women continue to break barriers in global business, Zhang Xin‘s story offers a compelling example of perseverance and the potential for economic empowerment.
Zhang Xin’s path began far from the skyscrapers she would later shape. Early in her life, she was assigned to work in a factory under the directives of Mao Zedong. This experience,however,instilled in her a belief in gender equality,as she witnessed men and women working side-by-side. “Women hold up half the sky. Men and women all work. So, the idea that men go to work, women stay at home and that kind of division of labour didn’t exist in China when I was little,” Zhang later recalled. A pivotal moment arrived when she chose to pursue education abroad, traveling to England to continue her studies.
Years later, reflecting on her life’s trajectory, Zhang Xin identified education as the key catalyst for her success. “If I looked back at my life and asked myself what was the most important transformational element, I would say education. everything changed when I decided to go to England and become a student,” she stated in a 2013 speech to her alma mater, as quoted by The Times.
Inspired by a female speaker she encountered during her studies-a woman she admired for her eloquence and courage in a male-dominated surroundings-Zhang Xin found a role model.”I remember being in awe of her and thinking: ‘How can she speak so well? How can she possibly argue with hundreds of men in this room? She’s so brave and so great. And I took her…as a role model,” she said.
In 1995,Zhang Xin and her husband,Pan Shiyi,co-founded Hongshi,which became known as China’s SOHO in 2002. Today,their combined net worth stands at $3.3 billion, a testament to their entrepreneurial vision and Zhang Xin’s unwavering determination to succeed in a field where women were historically underrepresented.
