In 1985, business tycoon Zhang Yin started a paper-trading business in Hong Kong with about 30,000 yuan, or 3,800 US dollars. More than two decades later, she would be named China's richest person, with an estimated fortune of $3.4 billion on the 2006 Hurun Rich List. The material at the centre of her business was something most people had already thrown away: waste paper. Zhang eventually built a business that collected recovered paper in the United States, shipped it to China and used it as raw material for paper and packaging products.
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