As of February 2016, Chinese businesswoman Zhou Qunfei has a net worth of around $6 billion, making her the richest woman in China and the 30th richest person in technology. (Forbes) Zhou Qunfei is the top of a list of female, self made billionaires in China. In Chinese culture, women have found more success in the last century, as gender equality has become a prominent part of the business culture.

Traditionally, it is viewed that a woman’s purpose in life is to bear sons and care for the elders of the family. A daughter is property to be given to another man when she is old enough. Many Chinese families have mourned the birth of a daughter, especially if no sons had been previously born into the family. The shamefulness of having multiple daughters is why so many Chinese baby girls are available for adoption. The traditional Chinese philosophy of Confucianism disapproved of strong women.

But as time progressed and so did culture, the more stark contrasts of inequality lessened a bit. When Mao Zedong came into power in China, bringing along communist philosophies and beliefs now known as “Maoism”, he left behind perhaps one positive legacy: equality among the sexes in business. Mao’s quote, “Women hold up half the sky,” implied that women have the ability to do more for their country, beyond the traditional values. The purpose of this was to bring women out of the homes and into the world of business. Maoist theory believed that being superior in military and economic power protected China from outside threat. (Encyclopedia Brittanica) Therefore, he believed in women becoming part of the world outside of domesticity, and women and men working together to build the economic power that is China. This was a huge change to the previous belief in Chinese culture of women being lesser, primarily in the workforce. But while this philosophy allowed women opportunities outside of the home, inequality still existed, then and now. The ratio of men to women in population is incredibly high and female infanticide/selective sex abortion still happens, and there is still many women who find themselves subservient to the males of their family.  So while Chinese culture has not solved their issues of gender equality, many Chinese women are still finding much success as entrepreneurs.