At China's banquet for Trump, Zhou Qunfei, a self-made billionaire, was introduced

When Zhou Qunfei saw an opportunity to supply Apple's smartphones, she rose from modest beginnings to become one of China's wealthiest self-made women

At the Chinese state banquet for Donald Trump last month, Zhou Qunfei attracted attention as the "mystery woman" positioned between two of the US's most influential tech titans, Tim Cook and Elon Musk. According to Struan Stevenson in his book The Course of History: Ten Meals That Changed the World, "placement" is crucial. Furthermore, Zhou Qunfeis' placement was a prime illustration of "dining diplomacy," which has the power to positively or negatively influence international political and economic outcomes.

According to the South China Morning Post, Zhou Qunfei is one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world and the little-known (in the West) founder of Lens Technology, a prominent touchscreen supplier. Placing her next to two of her most significant clients undoubtedly gave her the chance to listen to them. However, it served as a potent reminder to American plutocrats that the Chinese Dream is just as powerful as their own, according to Beijing's image shapers. Zhou is revered in the nation as a role model who "rose from humble beginnings" to become one of China's leading industrialists through perseverance, hard work, and talent. She is the ideal role model for millions of Chinese migrant workers. According to Forbes, she is currently worth about £20 billion.

"In utter destitution" is how the "touchscreen queen" started her life. Her father was seriously injured in an industrial accident, and she was born in 1970 in a village close to the city of Xiangxiang in Hunan province. Her mother passed away when she was five years old. To make money, she raised pigs, planted vegetables, and collected plastic waste. She told CNBC, "I had to think about where my next meal would come from constantly." According to Jing Daily, Zhou Qunfei's "hunger years" gave him "a foundation of grit." She traveled to Shenzhen at the age of 15, where she first worked as a security guard before joining the assembly line of a factory that made watch glass. She took night classes in computer science, accounting, screen printing, and Cantonese. She even got a license to drive big cars.

Zhou Qunfei's motivation and "sharp problem-solving skills" quickly led to her promotion. However, at the age of 23, she decided to launch her own company with family, running it out of a three-bedroom apartment. Before going back to producing glass for watches, they started with silk-screen printing. Zhou retooled the company when cell phones started to become popular in the early 2000s, eventually winning orders from Samsung, Motorola, HTC, and Nokia. According to Tatler Asia, a turning point occurred in 2007 when Lens Technology started supplying Apple's initial iPhone touchscreens. She became a billionaire and the company "entered a dominant position in China's tech manufacturing" thanks to the contract. Zhou became well-known across the country in 2015 when Lens Technology went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Then came lucrative new agreements with automakers like BYD, Tesla, and BMW.

How Zhou Qunfei recovered from a loss of £6.8 billion.

According to Bloomberg in 2018, Donald Trump almost proved to be her downfall. Zhou Qunfei lost £6.8 billion, or 66% of her fortune, when the US/China trade war broke out and Apple's suppliers were sold off. But Lens recovered as the decade progressed. After Lens successfully completed a dual-listing in Hong Kong last year, Zhou's wealth increased by an additional 75%. But according to Tatler, Zhou Qunfei still feels most comfortable pacing the factory floor. "She can explain the intricacies of heating glass in a potassium ion bath" and "will dip her hands into a tray of water to check if the temperature is just right." She shares Elon Musk's intense, frequently compulsive interest in operational detail and is well-known for sleeping on the job site to troubleshoot. Over their pan-fried pork buns, they undoubtedly had a lot to talk about.