Shanghai’s skyline.
Today’s stock trading debut by Chinese electronics manufacturer Huaqin Technology minted the country’s latest billionaire.
Huaqin fell by 8% in mid-afternoon trade from its IPO price at the Shanghai Stock Exchange to 74.01 yuan. Yet Huaqin’s Chairman Qiu Wensheng held shares worth 12.7 billion yuan, or $1.77 billion, lifting him into the ranks of the world’s richest businesspeople.
Huaqin, founded in 2005 and headquartered in Shanghai, makes mobile phones, tablets, laptops, home electronics and automotive electronics. Besides China, Huaqin has manufacturing facilities in India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Qiu holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Tsinghua University and a master’s degree in chemical process machinery from Zhejiang University. Earlier in his career, he was a software engineer at Chinese telecommunications hardware maker ZTE.
China stocks were broadly lower today after the country reported a double-digit drop in July exports from a year earlier, stirring fears about growth in the world’s No. 2 economy. The benchmark CSI 300 Index was off 0.4% as of mid-afternoon.
China is home to the world’s second largest number of billionaires after the United States.