Beijing Real Estate Tycoon Zhang โคXin Creditsโข Education for Rise from Factoryโข Worker to Billionaire
zhang Xin, dubbed “the woman who built Beijing,”โ has amassed a $3.3 billion fortune (approximately Rp. 54 trillion) through her real estate company, Hongshi, defyingโฃ 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 โคthe transformative power of โeducation and challenges conventional gender roles in the workplace. As โขChina’s property market evolves and women continue to โขbreak 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 theโ skyscrapers she would later shape. Early in her โคlife,โ she was assigned to work in โa factory โขunder the directives โof Mao Zedong. This experience,however,instilled in โคher a belief in gender equality,asโ she witnessed men andโ women working side-by-side. “Women hold up half the sky. Menโค and women all work. โSo, the idea that men go โฃto work, women stay at home and thatโ kind of division of labour didn’t โคexist 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 โeducation as the key catalyst for her success. “If I looked โback at my life and asked myself what was the most important transformational element, I โwouldโข say education. โeverything changed when I decided โฃto go to England and become a โฃstudent,” she stated in a 2013 speech to her alma mater, as quoted by The Times.
Inspired โฃby a female speakerโข she encounteredโ during her studies-a woman she admired for her eloquenceโฃ and courage in a male-dominated surroundings-Zhang โXin found a roleโ model.”I remember beingโ 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 andโฃ so great. And I took her…as aโฃ role model,” she said.
In 1995,Zhang Xin and her husband,Pan โShiyi,co-founded Hongshi,which became known asโ China’s SOHO in 2002. Today,their combined โnet worth stands at $3.3 billion, a testament โto theirโ entrepreneurial vision and Zhang Xin’s unwavering determination โคto succeed in a field where โwomen were historically โฃunderrepresented.
