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Chinese billionaire behind Hansoh Pharmaceutical enriched as Hang Seng Index review fuels rally among new elite members

  • Chairwoman and CEO Zhong Huijuan and her Cambridge-trained daughter control 66 per cent of the Shanghai-based pharma group
  • Three other new index members – Baidu, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery and China Shenhua Energy – will also join from September 5

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Hansoh Pharmaceutical headquarters in Shanghai. Photo: Company website
Zhang ShidongandCheryl Heng
Hansoh Pharmaceuticals jumped as much as 7.2 per cent in Hong Kong after the stock was picked with three others to join the benchmark Hang Seng Index from next month, thrusting China’s sixth richest woman into the limelight.
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The stock traded as high as HK$16.62 before settling 3.2 per cent higher at HK$16 when trading closed on Monday, leading gains among new index members after the latest quarterly review. The increase added almost HK$3 billion (US$377 million) of market value to the group.

The Shanghai-based group has a market capitalisation of HK$94.8 billion, having lost 16 per cent or HK$17.8 billion this year. The stock crashed 49 per cent in 2021, erasing HK$110 billion of value.

Ranked among mainland China’s top three drug makers, Hansoh Pharmaceutical was founded in 1995 by Zhong Huijuan, its 61-year old chairwoman and chief executive officer. Together with her Cambridge-trained daughter Sun Yuan, the family controls 66 per cent of the group, according to its annual report.

Zhong is credited with a US$8.2 billion fortune by Forbes, while her spouse Sun Piaoyang separately controls about a quarter of Shanghai-listed Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. Developer Country Garden’s Yang Huiyan topped the list of women billionaires with US$18.7 billion.

The 61-year old Zhong Huijuan founded the pharmaceutical group in 1995. Photo: Baidu
The 61-year old Zhong Huijuan founded the pharmaceutical group in 1995. Photo: Baidu

Three other stocks, selected by index compiler Hang Seng Indexes Company, also advanced. Baidu, China’s biggest search-engine operator, added 0.9 per cent to HK$128.90 while state-controlled coal mining group China Shenhua Energy added 2.1 per cent to HK$24. Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group surrendered gain, slipping 0.6 per cent to HK$16.26.

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