China’s ‘Paper Queen’ Makes a $4.6 Billion Bet on Southeast Asia
A Nine Dragons’s paper storage facility in Chongqing, Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, in November 2018. Photo: VCG
(Nikkei Asia) When China announced it would stop importing foreign waste including a crucial component in the production of cardboard Cheung Yan, the co-founder and chairwoman of the country’s largest paper manufacturer, faced a government-imposed check on her thriving business that could stunt growth.
Now, three years later, Cheung, known in China as the “paper queen,” and her Hong Kong-listed
Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd. have announced plans to build a 30.2 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) factory close to Vietnam, part of a raft of investments that has extended into the Southeast Asian country, as well as Malaysia, to counter the impact of China’s ban on wastepaper, a raw material for paper products.