Zhong Huijuan

Zhong Huijuan (born April 1961) is a Chinese pharmaceutical executive, billionaire, and the world's richest self-made woman.[3] She is the founder, CEO, and chair of Hansoh Pharmaceutical, which is headquartered in Lianyungang and is traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[4][5] She is the company's majority shareholder, with a 66% stake.[6] In 2021, she was the world's 89th richest person according to Forbes, with a net worth of US$19.7 billion.[7]

Education and career

Born in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province,[8][9] Zhong studied chemistry at Jiangsu Normal University and graduated in July 1982. She then worked as a chemistry teacher at Yan'an Middle School in Lianyungang.[10] At the same time, Sun Piaoyang, her husband, was the manager of a state-owned pharmaceutical factory in the same city.[6] (That factory would eventually become Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine, the largest listed pharmaceutical company in China.[8][11])

In 1995, Sun and an investor from Hong Kong started a new pharmaceutical company, which would become Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group (豪森药业, later restructured as 翰森制药集团). But because Sun still worked at the state-owned factory, he found himself too busy to manage the new company.[8][9] This was Zhong's opportunity to enter the pharmaceutical industry: she left her job as a teacher to run the fledgling company as a founder.[6][9]

The company had only about ten employees at first,[12] but it grew rapidly, and by 1997 it had US$4.5 million in revenue.[6] To help the company grow, Zhong reinvested 5% of sales revenue into R&D, developing products including antibiotics, cancer treatments, and psychotropic, endocrine, and gastrointestinal drugs.[12] The R&D budget later grew to nearly 10% of revenue, an unusually high level for a Chinese pharmaceutical company.[13]

Hansoh Pharmaceutical had its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2019 and raised US$1 billion. This made Zhong the richest self-made woman in Asia, with a net worth of US$10.5 billion (greater than her husband's fortune of US$9.4 billion).[6]

By 2019, the company had become the largest producer of psychotropic drugs in China.[10] Zhong owns 66% of the company through the Sunrise Trust, registered in the British Virgin Islands.[6] Her wealth grew significantly in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[14][15] In that year, she was the world's 9th richest woman according to Forbes, as well as the 20th richest person in China according to Hurun.[4][16][17]

Recognition

In 2007, Zhong received the March 8th Red Banner Bearer award (三八红旗手), which recognizes outstanding working women in China.[8]

Personal life

Zhong's husband, Sun Piaoyang, is also a billionaire and is the chair of Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine.[4] Zhong and Sun are relatively private and rarely give interviews.[8] Their daughter Sun Yuan (孙远) is Hansoh Pharmaceutical's executive director and also owns a stake in the company.[18][19]

Zhong lives in Shanghai.[18]

See also

• List of female billionaires
• Ernesto Bertarelli

External links

• Hansoh Pharmaceutical