Beijing ( CNN ) -- Zhang Xin grew up in poverty and at the age of 14 began a laboring job in a factory . Today , she is richer than Donald Trump , Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey . Zhang , a Chinese real estate developer , is the seventh richest self-made woman in the world , worth $ 3.6 billion , according to Forbes . She 's worth $ 800 million more than Oprah Winfrey , the world 's best known self-made female billionaire . Not only does Zhang 's rags-to-riches story mirror that of China itself , but it is Zhang who has shaped much of the country 's modern urban landscape , with the logo of her company SOHO China on the side of buildings wherever you turn in Beijing . SOHO China has 18 developments in Beijing , many of them landmark buildings , and has recently expanded to Shanghai , where it has bought or built 11 properties . Two of her Beijing projects -- one completed last year and another under construction -- are designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid . Zhang , 47 , was born in Beijing just before Mao Zedong 's Cultural Revolution , when educated people like her parents were sent to the fields for `` re-education . '' She returned to Beijing with her mother , but they endured poverty and hardship . `` I was born and grew up when the city was very quiet : no cars , no shops , no lights , no machines . People were just on bicycles , '' she said . At 14 , she and her mother moved to Hong Kong , where she spent five years in low-paid factory jobs , manufacturing toys , clothes and electronics , trying to save enough to go to England for an education . `` As a new immigrant to Hong Kong with no education , no background , did n't even speak the local language or dialect , Cantonese , and it was just a hard way to live in Hong Kong , '' said Zhang . It took Zhang five years to save enough for a plane ticket to London and an English language course . She won a scholarship to university , studied for a master 's degree in economics at Cambridge University and landed her first job at Goldman Sachs in New York . Instead of remaining in her comfortable life in Wall Street , Zhang returned to Beijing , where she met her husband , and together they started SOHO China . `` There was excitement of people talking about how to change China , and it was a very intellectually vibrant time , '' she said . `` I felt that this country was really making a transition , and I wanted to be a part of that . '' Since Zhang and her husband , Pan Shiyi , formed SOHO China in 1995 , it has become China 's largest commercial real estate developer , with 56 million square feet in prime developments in Beijing and Shanghai . While Zhang 's story is incredible -- giving her celebrity status in China -- it is not unique . Of Forbes ' 2013 list of 24 self-made female billionaires , six are from China ( including one from Hong Kong ) , more than any other country outside the United States . `` I think women of our generation went through Cultural Revolution , went through hardship , coming from nowhere , and suddenly see China 's amazing opportunity , '' said Zhang . `` So women just seized the opportunity . '' Zhang has a following of more than 5 million on Weibo , the Chinese social media site often compared with Twitter , where she shares her views on business , current affairs and architecture . But despite her financial success , Zhang , who practices the Baha ' i faith , avoids excessive trappings of wealth , even suggesting her 14-year-old son find a job in McDonald 's or KFC . He tried , but was too young to be accepted . `` It 's not easy to be my sons because we 're very high profile . We try so hard to give them a normal life , '' she said . `` I 'm very , very tight with them about money . I do n't give that money until they ask , ' I need 100 yuan for my lunch card , ' and so on . So they never have extra money . But I think that still can not compare to how we came , where we came ( from ) . ''
Zhang Xin runs China 's largest real estate developer with her husband . Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos:China's richest women in the world She grew up in poverty during China 's Cultural Revolution .