Lihua Chen is the Founder and President of Fuh Wah International Group with an estimated net worth of $2.7 billion. The company owns buildings in some of Beijing’s priciest locations.

Miss Chen is the epitome of a Chinese success story. She was born to a poor family who started a furniture maintenance business in 1976 even before she completed her high school education. She then traveled to Hong Kong during the 1980s to pursue real estate and trade opportunities. She returned to her hometown ten years later and started her company which focuses on residential housing projects.

Currently, Chen is focused on developing a Beijing real estate project in the Dongdan area. She is known to have invested 200 million RMB, along with her business commitments, to build a state-level private museum, the China Rosewood museum. She is also involved in the preservation of the art of Sandalwood carving. She owns the Chang An Club, one of the four most elite networking spots in the city. She was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People of 2012 because of her philanthropy.