Li Hejun (; born 13 August 1967) is a Chinese businessman. He is a former billionaire. He is the founder and chairman of

Hanergy Hanergy Holding Group Ltd. (Hanergy) is a Chinese multinational company headquartered in Beijing. The company is focusing on thin-film solar value chain, including manufacturing and solar parks development. It also owns the Jinanqiao Hydroelectri ...

, as well as a member of the 11th/12th CPPCC National Committee, member of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce’s (ACFIC) First Advisory Committee, vice-chairman of ACFIC’s 11th Executive Committee and honorary president of ACFIC’s New Energy Chamber of Commerce. According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'', Li had a net worth of $10.3 billion in March 2014, $21.1 billion in March 2015, $3.2 billion in March 2016, $1.9 billion in March 2017. In December 2022, Li was detained by police in northeast China's Liaoning province.

Early life

Li Hejun was born on August 13, 1967 to a

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

family in

Heyuan Héyuán (, Hakka:Fò-Ngiàn) is a prefecture-level city of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,837,686 whom 1,051,993 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yuancheng urban ...

, Guangdong Province, China. Li graduated from

Beijing Jiaotong University Beijing Jiaotong University (Chinese: 北京交通大学), formerly Northern Jiaotong University, is one of the oldest public universities in mainland China. The main campus is located in the Haidian District in central Beijing. Its coordinates ...

in 1988 with a BS (Bachelor of Science) degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

. In 2002, he started his

doctoral studies A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Macroeconomics Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...

Business career

In 1989, Li Hejun borrowed 50,000 Chinese yuan from his university teacher to establish

. After almost 30 years, Hanergy has become a multinational

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

company, with active business in thin-film solar,

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

, and

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

generation. From 2002-2011, Li led a team of more than 10,000 members to construct Jin’anqiao Hydropower Station, costing more than 20 billion yuan. The 3 million kilowatt-capacity Jinanqiao Hydropower Station was built over the

Jinsha River The Jinsha River (, Tibetan: Dri Chu, འབྲི་ཆུ) is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in western China. The river passes through Tiger L ...

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, at an altitude of more than 2000 meters and with an installed capacity 10% larger than the

Gezhouba Dam The Gezhouba Dam or Gezhouba Water Control Project () on the Yangtze River is located in the western suburbs of Yichang, in central China's Hubei province. One of the largest run-of-the-river dams, it sits several kilometers upstream from downtow ...

in China, and 30% larger than the United States’

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...

. In 2009, Hanergy switched focus to thin-film solar power. From 2010-2015, the company invested more than 50 billion yuan on the mergers and acquisitions of Germany’s Solibro Hi-Tech GmbH and Solibro Research AB, and United States’

MiaSolé MiaSolé is an American solar energy company selling copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic products. MiaSolé's manufacturing process lays CIGS on a flexible stainless steel substrate. MiaSolé produces all layers of photo ...

, Global Solar Energy and Alta Devices. In November 2013, Li published his first book, New Energy Revolution: the Power to Change China and the World. In the book, he emphasized that in the future, competition for energy will not be for resources, but for core technology. Li also argues “a combination of thin film power and internet will lead to the third industrial revolution.” The English version of this book, China's New Energy Revolution, was published in 2014. In 2008, he invested and built the largest offshore WuDong wind power plant in Asia From 2002 to 2011, he invested and built Jinanqiao, the world's largest private hydro-power station. From 2015 until now, he has invested to build the largest Thin Film solar energy group. He is the member of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce’s (ACFIC) First Advisory Committee, and the vice-chairman of the 11th Executive Committee of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce He is the first founding president of the New Energy Chamber of Commerce of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, a lifetime honorary president, a member of the All-China Youth Federation, the vice president of the China Young Entrepreneurs Association, and the permanent honorary president of the Guangdong Hakka Chamber of Commerce. In 2014 and 2015, he was recognized as the richest man in mainland China by New Fortune Magazine. In 2015, he was named as the richest man in mainland China by Forbes and Hurun Fortune. On December 17, 2022, he was arrested by the Liaoning police.

Philanthropy

During the course of his business career, Li has also launched multiple philanthropic programs. As one of the primary sponsors and the first executive director-general of the China Red Ribbon Foundation (a special fund for

AIDS prevention HIV prevention refers to practices that aim to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV prevention practices may be undertaken by individuals to protect their own health and the health of those in their community, or may ...

and treatment in China), Li has made contributions to multiple anti-AIDS, education, poverty relief and anti-desertification programs in China and abroad.

Personal life

Li is married, lives in Beijing, China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Hejun 1967 births Living people Beijing Jiaotong University alumni Billionaires from Guangdong Businesspeople from Guangdong Chinese company founders Chinese energy industry businesspeople Hakka people People associated with solar power People associated with wind power Writers from Heyuan