Thanks to opening-up

In 2007, she established the company to streamline operations.

When looking back at her career, Zhang attributed her success to the improving national policies of reform and opening-up and her own hard work.

"We benefited from the country's policy to open the market to private businesses and got rewards while being persistent," she said.

Indeed, over the past four decades, the government has been committed to building a better business environment with administrative streamlining and delegation of power to facilitate private businesses.

The Central Economic Work Conference, which concluded on Dec 21, pledged support to private businesses and enterprises with law-based environment and ensured personal and property safety for private entrepreneurs.

In the first three quarters of this year, new market entities rose sharply to hit 15.61 million, up by 10.4 percent compared with the same period in 2017, said the State Administration for Market Regulation in a news conference on Oct 26. During that period, each day saw an average of 57,200 new market entities registered, it said.

By the end of September, China had 106 million market entities, including more than 70 million non-enterprise entities such as small private businesses, the administration said.

Zhang said she did not expect such fundamental changes in China's business environment. "Private businesses were not allowed 40 years ago, and now the government encourages people to do more in innovation and entrepreneurship," she said.

In December 2016, Zhang was among more than 600 small private business owners to meet with Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the first such event in 25 years.

She said the premier talked to her and spoke highly of the role of small private business owners, which encouraged participants to continue their career, she said.

As to the future, Zhang is confident her son will make even greater achievements.

"The business environment is far better than that in the late 1970s and we, the old-generation, have accumulated wealth for successors. They should do better," she added.