Skip to content
Wealth
Investing

China's Aging Tycoons Prepare to Hand Over $1 Trillion to Heirs

The Zhangs are the first Chinese clan to appear on Asia’s family ranking, but more are poised to join as older generations plan for succession. 

Zhang Shiping in 2013.

Zhang Shiping in 2013.

Photographer: Dong Naide/Imaginechina/AP Photo

By

Zhang Shiping was one of 16 million Chinese youth sent to the countryside during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. 

Decades later, the veteran Communist Party member made full use of the market reforms started by Deng Xiaoping to build two world-class businesses: a cloth company and the biggest private aluminum smelter.