Born Dai Xiu Li in Harbin, China, Hawken made her fortune from leasing air-raid shelters with her brother, Dai Yongge, and turning them into underground shopping malls across the world’s most populous nation. Hawken studied Chinese literature before becoming a reporter. She left for London in 1991, where she began working in finance. She married Tony Hawken, a teacher, and they have a modest home in South Norwood, near Croydon. A non-executive director of Renhe Commercial since it was listed in Hong Kong in 2007, Hawken joined in 1996, but Hong Kong bankers say she does not take an active role in managing the company. Hawken is renowned in China for running the Shanxi Zhongxin football team, having fallen in love with the game in London. Last year, Blackstone, the American private equity giant, paid $600m for a stake of about 30% in China Shouguang Agricultural, an agricultural market Hawken’s family owns that is expected to list soon. Hawken, 48, has a 49.7% stake in Renhe, which is now worth £1,066m.

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