Paper trader and recycler Zhang Yin becomes China’s richest person, according to coverage describing how she builds her fortune from waste paper trading and exports. The reports say she starts in Hong Kong in 1985 with about $3,800 and begins trading paper using a strategy that focuses on acquiring waste paper in the United States and shipping it to China.
Sources outline that she founds America Chung Nam, which grows into a leading exporter of recyclable paper. As China’s demand for packaging and paper products increases during its economic expansion, her business grows alongside that market. The reporting then describes further expansion with the creation of Nine Dragons Paper, which becomes a major player in China’s paper recycling and packaging supply chain.
While the two accounts emphasize the same core timeline—1985 start in Hong Kong, U.S. waste paper collection, the role of America Chung Nam, and the later rise of Nine Dragons Paper—both present the story as a step-by-step build toward a large-scale, export-led recycling business rather than focusing on other personal or corporate details.
