In its annual ranking of the 100 top businesswomen in China , Forbes identifies » Iron Lady » Dong Mingzhu, Chairman and President of Gree Electric Appliances, as the most outstanding woman in business.
Mingzhu’s husband died when their son was only two years old and she never remarried. Now 63, she makes no pretence at having any work-life balance. « Gree is my life, » Mingzhu says.
In 1994, she joined Gree Electric as a salesperson and took her child with her on sales trips, she said at the China Manufacturing Summit in December, according to a transcript .
Her determination and fierce work ethic lead pushed her to break sales records. Mingzhu climbed the corporate ranks, taking the leading role at the company in May of 2012.
In her 26 years working at Gree Electric, she has never taken the company’s « annual leave, » she said in an interview with the China News Network last year .
