Liu Hanuyan was born in 1964 and grew up in Meishan, China.

Coming from a peasant family, Liu was not interested in school as a child. However, during his high school years, he learned about aquaculture technology which interested him more. After graduation, he struggled to find a job and decided to start his own business. 

At only 19 years old, he managed to convince his father and obtained $60 to start his fish farming business.

He bought nearly 10,000 fries (young fish that depend on their yolk sac to survive). Unfortunately, Liu faced his first failure when 2000 fry suddenly died. The young man did not give up and built a hut near the fish pond, planning to observe fry condition and problems. Ambitious, he spent 7 months researching fish farming technology.
As a result, his ponds develop rapidly. Liu managed to achieve the highest production in the country. In 1992, he founded Tongwei Group, a company whose main business is the production and distribution of fish feed. Since then, as the company’s industry develops, Tongwei Group becomes the largest fish feed manufacturer in the world, with an annual output of 10M tons of feed.
In 2004, company took a new turn when going public. Liu did not stop there and decided to diversify his business.

In 2006, when  global photovoltaic industry was booming, Liu Hanyuan noticed this new development path.

In 2007, the entrepreneur decided to set up the world largest solar photovoltaic project and acquired a company in the field the following year. Thus Tongwei Solar was born, which is dedicated to R&D, manufacturing and marketing of basic solar products.
Tongwei describes itself as a vertically integrated photovoltaic company, with high-purity silicon production upstream, solar cell production in the middle of the chain, and the construction and operation of photovoltaic power plants downstream. Yet it is the upstream component of Tongwei’s business - high-purity silicon - that has transformed the company into what local media describe as a « real money printing machine ».

Tongwei entered the industry of high-purity crystalline silicon, the most common solar cells used in solar panels, in 2013 and is now the world’s leading producer.

Company claims an annual production capacity of 180,000 tons of high-purity silicon, which company plans to increase to 350,000 tons per year by 2023, and up to one million tons by 2026.
In 2018, when government subsidies to the photovoltaic industry were discontinued, the industry experienced a decline and the price of high-purity silicon fell sharply. Various producers stopped or reduced production, and ended expansion plans. Tongwei, however, continued to expand production, adding two new high-purity silicon projects in 2018, and several more in the following years.

Tongwei is the largest producer of this « black gold » with a dominant negotiating position for sales contracts.

For Liu, diversification is a real asset for a company. Today, the Tongwei Group controls a dozen companies in food, real estate, construction and media sectors. Liu is not just an entrepreneur; in 2004, he was elected one of the most influential business leaders in China. He is also the richest man in Sichuan province.
Also involved in politics, he is a deputy in the National People’s Congress where it is important for him to make relevant suggestions to promote the sustainable and healthy development of renewable energy. Today, Liu Hanyuan lives with his wife in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.