Lu Guanqiu (;17 January 1945 – 25 October 2017) was a Chinese

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

entrepreneur, and the founder of

Wanxiang Group Wanxiang Group Corporation () is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Its automotive components subsidiary (Wangxiang Qiaochao) is the larg ...

. He was the 18th richest person in China, according to the

Hurun Report Rupert Hoogewerf (born 1970 in Luxembourg), also known by his Chinese name Hu Run (), is the chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, a research, media and investments business, best known for its Hurun Rich List, a ranking of the wealthies ...

China Rich List 2013, the 286th richest person in the world, and reportedly the richest person in

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...

. He was a delegate to the Chinese

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

Early life

Lu was born in January 1945 in ,

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

, Zhejiang, into a

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

family. When he was 15 years old, he dropped out of school and became an

ironsmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grill ...

Career

In July 1969, he co-founded a factory with six other farmers, producing small agricultural machines. Lu later developed his factory into the present

. It eventually became a large manufacturing conglomerate and a leading producer of automobile facilities and components. Lu was the president of the board of the Wanxiang Group. Their headquarters are in

Xiaoshan District Xiaoshan is one of ten urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, East China. Xiaoshan was formerly a city in its own right, separated by the Qiantang River from Hangzhou proper, but the municipal ...

, Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Lu was also a part-time professor for the EMBA program at

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...

. He also was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public research university located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. The University is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded ...

. According to the Forbes China Rich List (), Lu was ranked No. 33 with 13.13

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

Chinese Yuan The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 202 ...

(approximately

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.87 billion). Lu was the richest individual living in Zhejiang Province.

Personal life

Lu was married, with four children, and lived in Hangzhou. He died on 25 October 2017, aged 72.

References

External links

China Vitae - Lu Guanqiu

Lu Guanqiu. (Hurun Report - Webpage for China's Business Leaders)

Wanxiang Group official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Guanqiu 1945 births 2017 deaths Billionaires from Zhejiang Businesspeople from Hangzhou Zhejiang University alumni Zhejiang University faculty Delegates to the 9th National People's Congress Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress