China is not only the country that produces, that pollutes, that has an air unbreathable and does not follow any rules to save the environment. The country has realized that investing in alternative energies can be very productive and is trying not to lose this opportunity. That's why also the Chinese super-rich ranking changes in favour of the environment.
For the first time since 1999 the richest in China, according to the magazine Hurun, is a "green" businessman, Wang Chuanfu, 43, founder of Built Your Dreams (Byd), a manufacturer of electric cars. His personal assets is over $ 5 billion and it has grown 800 percent last year, after the American businessman Warren Buffet bought 10% of his company. Wang, last year, was only 106th in the ranking.
His family was not a rich one. A farmer's son, he was orphaned very young and at the beginning of his career he decided to jump in mobile phone market. Then he changed idea, asked for some money to his relatives and was able to produce a particular type of lithium batteries. In a few years he became the supplier of famous brands like Sanyo and Sony, Nokia and Motorola, but he wanted even more.
His family was not a rich one. A farmer's son, he was orphaned very young and at the beginning of his career he decided to jump in mobile phone market. Then he changed idea, asked for some money to his relatives and was able to produce a particular type of lithium batteries. In a few years he became the supplier of famous brands like Sanyo and Sony, Nokia and Motorola, but he wanted even more.
Since then, Wang Chuanfu worked preatty hard and today he is on the top of the richest rankings. He managed to make a career by exploiting an eco-friendly industry. He has demonstrated that you can be close to the environment with great earnings. Even in the second place of the ranking there is a person in some way related to environmental protection. For the first time there is a woman so high in the ranking: Zhang Yin, whose family controls Nine Dragons Paper Holdings, the largest producer of packaging and paper recycling in China.
These examples show that investment in the environment can be a good choice in the contemporary market, but do not forget that not all experiences, even in this area are successful. In China, for example, Peng Xiaofeng and Shi Zhengrong, once in the top ten ranking of the magazine Hurun, now have slipped down. The turnaround to eco-sustainability has begun but the road is still long.
China wants to conquer sun and wind
Marianne Lepore
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