[1] Dong Mingzhu was born the youngest of seven children in a working-class family in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province, in August 1954.

[5][citation needed] Joining Haley (Gree Electric's predecessor) as a salesperson, she made her mark from the start, recovering massive debts in a little over one month.

[10] 2 months later, she applied a cut on value-added taxes to reach more competitive prices and aim for an aggressive international development despite the US-China trade war going on.

[3] Dong currently holds senior positions in a dozen industry, women's and charity organizations, and has taught university business classes.

"[3] In 2018, law enforcement in Ningbo mistakenly accused Dong of jaywalking because her face was featured in an advertisement on the side of a bus and inaccurately flagged by a facial recognition system.