Wealthier than US television host Oprah Winfrey and author of the Harry Potter series J.K.
Rowling, Zhang is described by acquaintances as a “round-faced, not very tall” woman who
“doesn’t like dressing up and looks like a person of action”.Over the years, Zhang’s low
profile has helped her remain largely unknown.”I’m an entrepreneur. A high profile is
unnecessary,” Zhang was quoted as saying by the Shanghai-based China Business News, whose
reporter described her speaking as “extremely fast”.”This title is just a calculation, not a
big thing for me,” Zhang Yin told a Xinhua reporter last week. “But it’s very important for
my group. We have worked for 20 years to make the fortune.”The eldest of eight children in a
poor soldier’s family in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Zhang learnt independence
at an early age by looking after her brothers and sisters.She started her career in waste
paper trading in Hong Kong with30,000 yuan in 1985 and has stuck with the paper industry
since then.Aspiring to be the “queen of waste paper”, Zhang continued to build her realm in
the United States by setting up the America Chung Namp, Inc. (ACN) in 1990.