ZHUHAI, CHINA - Dong Mingzhu is known as one of the toughest businesswomen in China.

Stories swirl around Ms. Dong, 56, the president of Gree, a leading global maker of air-conditioners: that she ensured its success in the difficult year of 1994 by selling air-conditioners in a cold spring, at full price, when competitors were cutting prices . That she once sent her 12-year-old son to the airport alone by bus because she was busy.

She is a rarity in a country where, she says, “men are in charge, politically.”

Today, six Gree plants worldwide - three in China and three abroad, in Brazil, Pakistan and Vietnam - have a production capacity of 34 million air-conditioners a year. Two more factories in China broke ground last year . Gree now hopes to open a factory in the United States.

The company had income in the first three quarters of 2010 of 44.3 billion renminbi, or $6.7 billion, and net profit of 2.9 billion renminbi, with demand rising again in main markets in China, the Middle East, Brazil, Africa and Southeast Asia.

The road to success was not easy. As a 36-year-old widow in 1990, she left her son with her mother in Nanjing and traveled to the more economically developed south .

To most Chinese, she is known primarily for her determination.

“Where sister Dong walks, no grass grows” and “When she chews you up, she doesn’t even spit out the bones” are two judgments by male competitors.

“She’s pretty representative of the type of woman who succeeds in the business world in China,” said Feng Yuan, the head of Shantou University’s Center for Women’s Studies. “Feminism hasn’t really spread very far, so they have no way of being a success other than copying men.”

Ms. Dong explains her success with equal measures toughness and charm: “I never give up.”

The woman who once dreamed of becoming a soldier spoke of China’s place in the world, saying, “I always tell my colleagues, globalization should take place in Chinese.”

But later, she added: “We all have to stop thinking that our own country is better than someone else’s.”

The youngest of seven children , Ms. Dong did not inherit wealth. She had no political connections. Before her husband’s death, she was a technician in a chemistry lab. Then came her journey south.

For four years, she worked as an airconditioner saleswoman. By 1994, she was head of sales. By 1996, she was deputy president, and by 2001, president. “You must offer good service,” she said. “And quality. And then trust follows naturally.”

Her influence in China is considerable. A two-time delegate to the National People’s Congress, she holds senior positions in a dozen industry, women’s and charity organizations .

A lover of romantic novels, her attitude toward female success is simple: “What kind of victory is it where you are given privileges or where you play on your gender?”

Gree workers make an average 3,300 renminbi a month, well above the industry norm. Housing and other benefits are also better. Employees may take 24 weeks of paid maternity leave, more than the three months stipulated by law.

Ms. Dong remains critical of Chinese women. “Chairman Mao wanted women to hold up half the sky, but few women have changed,” she said.

Asked why she never remarried, Ms. Dong said: “I never found the right man,” adding, “ I don’t like to be restricted. And when you’re married you have responsibilities toward another person.”


By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW