China’s answer to H&M, fast fashion giant Meters/bonwe was founded by billionaire entrepreneur Zhou Chengjian – who grew up on a village farm and went bankrupt twice before turning 18

Oct 19, 2020

Zhong Chengjian, founder of China's H&M, Meters/bonwe. Photo: Baidu

Meters/bonwe might boast over 3,900 clothing stores across China and a separate e-commerce platform Banggo.com, but before founder Zhou Chengjian’s success he was a tailor and a school dropout

If Sweden has H&M and Spain has Zara, in the world of fast-fashion China has Meters/bonwe, which releases around 3,000 clothing designs a year at affordable prices. Today, founder Zhou Chengjian joins China’s ascendant billionaires with an estimated net worth of US$1.4 billion, according to Forbes – not bad for a 55 year old.

A Meters/bonwe store. Photo: @metersbonweofficial/Instagram

Zhou’s goal might be for Meters/bonwe to become “the world’s tailor”, but his fashion empire began due to his sewing and mathematics skills. Growing up in the mountainous area of Shikengling in China’s coastal Zhejiang province, he was the spoiled kid of the family – which in this context meant that he was exempt from farm work. Instead, at eight years old, he made the trip to town to buy rice, soy sauce, MSG, and other goods to re-sell at his village at a profit.