Zhou Qunfei

Zhou Qunfei was born in 1970 in Xiangxiang, Hunan province, China, the youngest of three children in a poor family. Before she was born, her father, a former soldier, became partially blinded and lost a finger in an industrial accident in the 1960s. A skilled craftsman, he supported the family by making bamboo baskets and chairs and repairing bicycles. Her mother died when she was five. As a child she helped her family raise animals for sustenance and small profit. Although she was the only one out of her siblings to attend secondary school and showed promise as a bright student, she dropped out at age 16 and moved in with her uncle's family to become a migrant worker in Shenzhen, the special economic zone in Guangdong province. While she briefly considered pursuing a government job for its stability, she discarded the idea as lacking a diploma would make it difficult to do so.

In Shenzhen she deliberately chose to work for companies near Shenzhen University, so she could take part-time courses at the university. She studied many subjects and passed the examinations to be certified for accounting, computer operations, customs processing, and even became licensed for driving commercial vehicles.

Although she dreamed of being a fashion designer, Zhou found a job working for a small family-run firm making watch parts for about 180 yuan a month. Displeased with the working conditions, she decided to quit after three months and submitted a letter of resignation explaining her reasons, yet expressing gratitude for the working opportunity. The letter moved the factory chief to offer her a promotion instead.

When the factory folded, she established her own company in 1993 at age 22, with her savings of HK$20,000 (~USD$3,000). It was her cousin who encouraged her to start on her own business, and the company began with her brother, sister, their spouses, and two cousins all working out of a three bedroom apartment. The company appealed to customers by promising higher-quality watch lenses. Here, Zhou took a hands on approach and involved herself in all parts of the company, including repairs and creating improved designs of factory machinery. In 2001, she caught her big break when her company won a profitable contract to make mobile phone screens for the Chinese electronics giant TCL Corporation.

Zhou Qunfei has stated that over the years she has started a total of 11 companies.

Zhou Qunfei married her former factory boss, had a daughter, and divorced. In 2008, she married Zheng Junlong, a factory colleague who as of 2015 served on the Lens Tech board. They have a seven-year-old son who lives at their Hong Kong family home.

Zhou has stated that although she considers work to be her hobby, she also enjoys mountain climbing and ping pong.

Zhou Qunfei's rags-to-riches story has been hailed as an inspiration to the millions of migrant workers in China. In an interview with Gansu Television, she said the secret of her success was the desire to learn.