85-year-old Chen Lihua passes away! Married to Zhi Zhongrui for 36 years, with a net worth of 47 billion, she has ranked multiple times as the mainland's richest woman.

On April 7, 2026, Huahua International Group and the Beijing Overseas Chinese Merchants Association successively issued memorial notices, deeply announcing that Chen Lihua, the late wife of the Beijing Overseas Chinese Merchants Association and the honorary chairman of Huahua International Group, as well as the director of the China Zitan Museum, passed away in Beijing on April 5, 2026, after an illness that proved untreatable, at the age of 85. The legendary woman who had repeatedly topped the list of the mainland’s richest women and joined hands with “Tang Seng” actor Chi Zhongrui to walk through 36 years has, with this, seen the curtain fall on her eventful life.

Chen Lihua’s life is a comeback legend—from a fallen noble family to a business tycoon. Born in Beijing in 1941, she was the eighth-generation descendant of the Yehelanala clan, a member of the Manchu Zhenghuang Banner, yet she never enjoyed noble glory. Due to her family’s poverty, she dropped out of school early and made a living by doing furniture repair work and sewing-related jobs. In the 1980s, she moved to Hong Kong. With her sharp business instincts, she accumulated initial capital by purchasing and reselling villas. In 1988, she founded Huahua International Group. Its business gradually expanded to multiple sectors including real estate, culture and the arts, finance, health, and more, making her the captain of a business empire spanning many industries.

In the business world, Chen Lihua’s achievements were especially dazzling. She has topped various rich-lists multiple times. In 2016, with a fortune of 50.5 billion yuan, she became China’s richest woman for the first time. In 2014, she was rated No. 1 among global self-made women billionaires. In Hurun’s Global Rich List for 2026, with a net worth of 47 billion yuan, she ranked 656th, demonstrating with her commercial grit the business grit of “women will not yield to men.” The Beijing Jinbaojie renovation project she oversaw was also groundbreaking in China’s “municipal works with hazardous dilapidated housing redevelopment” development model. She transformed a patch of dangerous and rundown hutongs into an upscale commercial landmark comparable to international standards, becoming a signature work of her business career.

Beyond her business accomplishments, Chen Lihua’s cultural passion is equally moving. She was captivated by zitan art throughout her life. Starting in the 1980s, she devoted herself to the protection and transmission of zitan culture. In 1999, she invested 200 million yuan to build China’s first privately-run, national-level museum—the China Zitan Museum. The museum houses thousands of high-quality zitan pieces, including the old Beijing city gates and watchtowers that she led her team to replicate over ten years in a 1:10 ratio, making an indelible contribution to the dissemination of China’s traditional culture. She also presented multiple zitan treasures to well-known museums at home and abroad, helping Chinese zitan culture move toward the world.

As for her marriage with actor Chi Zhongrui, it is also a story of love that overcame controversy and lasted for half a lifetime. The two met through Peking opera. They registered their marriage in 1990. At that time, Chen Lihua was 49 and Chi Zhongrui was 38, an 11-year age difference that once drew widespread doubts—some questioned that Chi Zhongrui “attached himself to a wealthy family,” while others did not look favorably on a marriage with such a large gap. But with 36 years of mutual devotion, they shattered all rumors: after marriage, Chi Zhongrui gradually stepped back from the entertainment industry and became Chen Lihua’s “all-around assistant,” helping her manage the zitan museum and related endeavors. They addressed each other as “chairman” and “Mr. Chi,” treating each other with mutual respect. They never turned the relationship into a joke, yet warmth was evident in every detail. Chi Zhongrui kept his bald-head look for decades for her, accompanied her in deepening her zitan career, and became each other’s most solid support.

As an outstanding representative of overseas Chinese businesspeople and a social activist, Chen Lihua served as a member of the 8th to 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and deputy director of the National Committee’s Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Overseas Chinese Committee in the 11th and 12th terms. She received numerous honors, including the United Nations “Outstanding Asian Women Lifetime Achievement Award,” among others. With a strong sense of responsibility, she gathered the power of overseas Chinese businesspeople, built platforms for exchange and cooperation at home and abroad, and actively devoted herself to public welfare and charity as well as cultural inheritance. Through her practical actions, she fulfilled the responsibilities of overseas Chinese businesspeople and made outstanding contributions to economic and social development.

This woman richest woman with assets worth several billions lived extraordinarily plainly. She stated that her daily living expenses were only 10 yuan. She loved eating rice with pickled mustard greens, does not smoke or drink, does not crave luxury, and all her efforts were poured into business development and the transmission of zitan culture. She once said, “Although I am a businessman, all my funds should be placed on this (zitan) to leave it for the country. If life doesn’t do something, it’s like coming for nothing.” This sincerity and steadfastness became a true portrayal of her life.

Chen Lihua’s passing is a major loss for the business community, the cultural and arts sector, and the overseas Chinese community. She spent her whole life defining the meaning of striving—she had the foresight and grit of a business giant, as well as the steadfastness and warmth of a cultural inheritor, and also the way ordinary people value love and family. Her legendary life will surely be remembered; her spirit and demeanor will also forever inspire future generations.