Zhang Shiping, founder and chairman of Weiqiao Pioneering Group, the parent company of the world's largest aluminium producer China Hongqiao, died on Thursday May 23 after a period of illness.
Born in a remote village in China's Shandong province and armed only with a high school education, the self-made tycoon was widely regarded as "legendary" within the aluminium and cotton industries.Zhang began his career as a mill worker in a small cotton factory in his hometown of Zouping in...