The richest woman in flowing water, the iron-clad Chen Lihua|The ups and downs of the mysterious "Gege" business world
Source: Fengcai News
(Produced by Phoenix Net Wind Financial News Author|.) CH EdWTT）
With the adjustment of the economic structure, the wealth of Chinese businesswomen has fluctuated again.
On November 14, the Hurun Research Institute released the "2023 Hongyan Club Hurun Women Entrepreneurs List", and Kwong Xiaoqing, the wife of Hong Kong Sun Hung Kai founder Kwok Tak-sheng, topped the richest woman in China for the first time with a wealth of 72 billion yuan. It is followed by Wu Yajun of Longfor Group (66.5 billion yuan) and Chen Lihua of Fuhua International (58 billion yuan), both from real estate.
In fact, 17% of this year's list of female entrepreneurs' wealth comes from the real estate industry, including Yang Huiyan of Country Garden, Yan Xin of Sushang Group, Zhu Yan of Beike, Lu Deyan of Midea Real Estate, Zhang Xin of SOHO China, etc., which also makes real estate still the largest source of wealth for female entrepreneurs in the list.
Since 2006, the Hurun Women Entrepreneurs List has been issued for 18 years, during which the rich women have come and gone, up and down. Every year, the most concerned is the "richest woman" who ranks first. But if you count the list of each issue, the one who stands the most stable among the top three is Chen Lihua.
The mysterious history of "Gege": from Hong Kong to the Imperial City, step on every real estate outlet
Different from Kuang Xiaoqing's wealth inheritance, Chen Lihua is a typical self-made person, but her family history can be called "mysterious".
In 1996, the Chang'an Club, located on East Chang'an Avenue and more than 700 meters away from Tiananmen Square, was officially opened.
According to reports at the time, Chang'an Club was known as the first top-tier club in China, with an entrance fee of $9,000 when it opened.
It is rumored that the first chairman of the club's board of directors was Jing Shuping, who had participated in the establishment of Minsheng Bank. Members of the club include New World Chairman Cheng Yu-tung, Cheung Kong Asset's Li Ka-shing, Sun Hung Kai Properties' Kwok Ping-xiang (Kwong Siu-hing's eldest son), and even Fok Ying-tung, the founder of the Fok Group.
The location of the political center and the members who are not rich or expensive all show the strong political and business connections of the club's hostess Chen Lihua.
(Source: Chang'an Club's official WeChat)
According to Chen Lihua, she is the eighth generation descendant of the Manchu Zhenghuang Banner, the Yehenala clan, and was born in the Summer Palace.
However, Chen Lihua is not a lucky "Gege", she is said to have dropped out of high school and started a furniture repair business in Beijing after giving up her studies.
However, it is also rumored that Chen Lihua's business at that time was not just as simple as furniture repair, but borrowed the market of the special period to purchase the Ming and Qing Dynasty rosewood, golden silk nan and huanghuali wood furniture at a low price, and obtained the initial funds from the transaction.
However, it is also said that Chen Lihua's real first pot of gold came from real estate. In the mid-80s of the last century, Chen Lihua set foot on the land of Hong Kong through a letter of introduction from relatives, bought 12 villas in Beverly and sold them at a high price, truly completing the original capital accumulation.
In 1992, Chen Lihua was inspired by the "Southern Tour Speech" and decided to return to China for development. Having just made a lot of money from Hong Kong real estate, Chen Lihua decided to start her domestic business in real estate.
In addition to the Chang'an Club and the Chang'an Building where it is located, Chen Lihua has successively won the major renovation project Jinbao Street in Beijing, as well as the surrounding projects of Wangfujing such as Liyuan Apartment, Lishan Building, and Fuhuayuan Community.
At the time when Beijing was building the sub-city center of Tongzhou District, Chen Lihua spent about 4 billion yuan to acquire a number of land plots in Tongzhou District, and successively invested funds to develop projects such as Beijing International Wealth Center, World Overseas Chinese Business Center, and Beijing Canal Water Town.
In addition, Fuhua International has also laid out the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hainan Free Trade Zone, etc., and developed cluster real estate projects such as Fuhua Rosewood Cultural and Creative Park and Fuhua Sanya Project.
These projects have made Chen Lihua a sought-after real estate developer in Beijing, and her wealth has grown rapidly, giving her the nickname of "red-capped businessman".
The richest woman's past in the mainland: marrying a "Tang monk", fanatical cross-border
In 2012, Time magazine announced the "100 Most Influential People in the World", and Chen Lihua became the only Chinese mainland woman selected. In the same year, she ranked among the top 10 in China on the "Hurun Report" with a net worth of 34 billion, and she was also the first self-made person among the richest women that year;
Four years later, in 2016, Chen Lihua topped the list of Hurun female entrepreneurs for the first time with a wealth of 50.5 billion yuan.
Chen Lihua's wealth is getting more and more attention, but she herself is very low-key. It wasn't until 1990 that Chen Lihua married Chi Chongrui, who became popular for the role of "Tang Seng" in "Journey to the West", that she really came out of the circle, and appeared in public with Chi Chongrui many times since.
According to the two of them in "A Date with Luyu", Chen Lihua took the initiative to chase Chi Chongrui, but after marriage, Chi Chongrui basically suspended his acting career, with Chen Lihua first.
(Screenshot of the video of "A Date with Luyu")
Tianyancha shows that at present, Chi Chongrui has two companies, Jugutang Trading Company (director) and Beijing Rosewood Culture Foundation (chairman and legal representative), and their ultimate controlling stakes are in the hands of Chen Lihua.
In recent years, Chi Chongrui has also participated in live broadcasts on Douyin many times, and the high-priced cosmetics and rosewood beads and other goods he sells are Chen Lihua's career: health, culture and art.
As early as 1999, Fuhua International invested hundreds of millions of yuan to build the world's largest thematic classical furniture museum, the Rosewood Museum, which is also the main position for Chi Chongrui to tell about the Rosewood culture on Douyin.
In 2009, Fuhua International Group invested in the establishment of Beijing Fuli Huade Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd., which was listed on the New Third Board in May 2017.
However, the company, which is said to be founded by Fred Murad, the Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine and the father of Viagra, has so far only had Murad's Enou capsule on its website.
In July 2019, Chen Lihua established Beijing Lizhi Huatang Cosmetics Co., Ltd., and the company has registered a number of brand trademarks such as "Lizhi Huatang", "Lizhi Huabao", "Lizhi Tiansheng", "Fenghua", "Tanrun" and "Lizhi Baby", and the cross-border in the field of health culture is getting deeper and deeper.
Chen Lihua's Wealth Inheritance: Real Estate Financing Mortgage Continues Where is Fuhua International going?
It is not difficult to see that Chen Lihua's main platform in China is "Fuhua International".
At present, Fuhua International's only company listed in the capital market, Beijing Fulihua, is run by Chen Lihua's daughter Zhao Li, and the real estate development business is entrusted to her son Zhao Yong.
According to industrial and commercial information, Chen Lihua currently only serves as the chairman of the board of directors of Fuhua International, and her son Zhao Yong serves as the chairman of Fuhua International, and holds key positions such as director and general manager in many real estate-related enterprises such as Beijing Fuhua Yongli Industrial Co., Ltd. and Beijing Fuhua Jinbao Center Co., Ltd.
At the time of the development of art, health and other businesses, high-quality real estate projects such as Jinbao Street have provided a steady stream of funds for Fuhua International.
According to Tianyan, as the core property of Beijing, since 2011, Beijing Huafu Jinbao Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. has pledged the No. 6 plot of Jinbao Street to financial institutions 10 times, obtaining more than 4.5 billion yuan of financing, and Beijing Fuhua Jinbao Center Co., Ltd. has also pledged the relevant buildings on Jinbao Street 7 times, with a financing amount of about 5 billion yuan.
In addition, Beijing Fuhua Furniture Enterprise Co., Ltd. has also carried out nearly 30 chattel mortgage loans, with a total loan amount of nearly 3.5 billion yuan.
In addition to project financing, there is also ongoing equity financing. Tianyancha shows that many companies under Fuhua, such as Beijing Huali Jinbao Co., Ltd., Beijing Huahai Jinbao Real Estate Co., Ltd., Beijing Fuhua Yongjia Real Estate Co., Ltd., and Fuhua Yongjia Culture Group Co., Ltd., have pledged their shares.
Behind the aura of "the richest woman", Fuhua International's funds may not be as abundant as imagined, when Chen Lihua continues to hand over and gradually retire, where will this senior but low-key wealth empire go, waiting for the market to give an answer.