Companies in the GBA｜The illustrious resume of the “waste paper queen”

南方财经全媒体记者 杨雨莱 广州报道

From real estate magnate to renewable energy titan, from internet trailblazer to nature’s water bearer, the throne room of China’s wealthiest individuals has seen occupants from all walks of life. On the Hurun China Rich lists, one name stands out as the “Waste Paper Queen”, Zhang Yin, a billionaire who started from selling scrap paper, to become the first woman to top the Hurun China Rich list in 2006.

In the town of Machong in Dongguan, Guangdong province, trucks loaded with paper products ply the streets. Nine Dragon, founded by Zhang Yin in 1995, sailed from this small town as the low-threshold business of recycling waste paper, which then turned to paper manufacturing in the lower end of the industrial chain.

Ten years later, Nine Dragon Paper’s production capacity had exceeded 3 million tons, making it China’s top paper maker, and it went on to list in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2006. Since then, Nine Dragon Paper has expanded its footprint, with nine domestic production bases, and overseas factories in the United States and Southeast Asia.

Ordinary items in our everyday lives, such as paper boxes and packages, books and clothes tags, as well as office paper, are potentially produced by Nine Dragon Paper. With continuous expansion of capacity and products, Nine Dragon Paper’s revenue surged from 7.9 billion yuan when it went public, to 56.74 billion yuan in 2023. Today, it boasts an annual capacity of over 20 million tons, as the world’s top paper manufacturer.

In the paper making industry, every penny is hard-won. Nine Dragon Paper never stopped exploring new ways to boost profits. In the industrial chain upstream, it leverages wood fiber and regenerated fibers to replace waste paper raw materials to gain cost advantages. In the downstream, it established packaging plants with a combined annual production capacity exceeding 2.8 billion square meters to boost revenue.

Costs in energy and transportation are equally significant. Currently, each production base has its own power plant, achieving 100% self-sufficiency in power supply. It has built piers and fleets across the country, to reduce the cost in transportation. However, despite such meticulous planning, price hikes in energy and chemicals, combining with weak demands, dealt a blow at Nine Dragon Paper’s profit last year. In the financial year of 2023, Nine Dragon Paper reported an annual loss of 2.38 billion yuan. This marks the first annual loss since 2006. On top of that, shares of the firm have been plummeting last year, nearly halved from its peak. And it was recently removed from the MSCI China Index.  

However, an air of optimism remains. Boosted by increased sales, in the second half of 2023, Nine Dragon Paper reported a profit of 292 million yuan, making a strong comeback from its previous losses. As consumer demand rebounds, several of its production bases have raised prices since February, even hiking prices twice in a week. Moreover, it is advancing with clean and alternative energy, breaking free from the fluctuating coal prices,

The road ahead is challenging. Yet in the current downturn the paper manufacturing industry is experiencing, Nine Dragon Paper, born amid waste heaps, is swiftly overcoming its obstacles to soar into a prosperous era.

出品：南财国际传播中心 21新媒体中心 创意互动中心

策划统筹：于晓娜 丁青云

内容统筹：谭婷 

责任编辑：李剑华 黄欣然

执行统筹：黄欣然 

设计统筹：林军明

视频统筹：白宇航

监制：施诗

英文翻译&配音：李莹亮

海外运营监制: 黄燕淑

海外运营内容统筹: 黄子豪

运营支持：曾静娇

审校：孙静芳 强燕 黄志明