(XINHUA)

Dong Mingzhu, CEO of Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai, was elected as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Business Women by Fortune magazine on February 6. Dong is ranked 42nd on the list.

Dong, 59, joined Gree as a saleswoman in 1990 and became the company's sales chief in 1996, eventually working her way up to CEO in 2001. Under Dong's leadership, Gree has gone from a small appliance maker to the world's leading manufacturer of household air conditioners. Its revenue in 2013 was up 19.9 percent to 120.03 billion yuan ($19.7 billion).

Dong also wrote a best-selling autobiography focusing her marketing experience, Check Around the World, which describes the Gree Pattern of sales management.