

Zhao Yan, CEO of Bloomage Biotechnology, ASIA’S POWER BUSINESSWOMEN 2020 FORBES! Since Zhao bought Bloomage BioTechnology in 2001, it has become the world’s largest maker of hyaluronic acid—used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food supplements—with over a third of global market share. The company went public on Shanghai’s Sci-Tech Innovation Board in 2019 after delisting in Hong Kong two years earlier. Since then, its share price has climbed by nearly two-thirds, making Zhao one of China’s richest women, worth $6.4 billion. In 2019, net profit rose 38% to 586 million yuan ($84 million) year on year on a 49% jump in revenue to 1.9 billion yuan. Zhao also chairs Bloomage International Investments Group, with interests in real estate, finance and sports.