Xiangning Zhang
Chinese information technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and venture capitalist
Xiangning "Forrest" Zhang 张向宁 (born in 1972) is a Chinese information technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and venture capitalist. He is among the first generation of internet entrepreneurs in China. Zhang is the founder, former chairman and CEO of HiChina Corporation (now Alibaba Cloud) as well as the chairman and CEO of Tixa Internet Technology Corporation. Zhang foresaw the potential of the internet and provided domain name registration and web hosting services from the end of 1995, leading HiChina to earn the largest share of the Chinese market in this field. Later he started his second company, Tixa, and continued to innovate while holding positions in organizations like the All-China Youth Federation and the China Council for International Investment Promotion.
Early life
Zhang enrolled in Beijing Normal University at 16 years old. His paper on the Principle of Relativity written at 17 years old impressed a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but shortly afterwards, Zhang willingly stopped schooling at 18 years old.
Professional life
Between 1990 and 1994, Zhang worked as a regular staff member and gained operation experience and understanding of corporate management. His work expanded through industries such as international trade, shipping, tourism, bid management, equipment development, computer exhibition, and more.
In 1994, Zhang foresaw the potential of the Internet.
The public source identifies “Xiangning Zhang” as chinese information technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and venture capitalist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Xiangning, Zhang and Chinese.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27967166. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972, 1995, 1990 and 1994.
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This entry incorporates text from “Xiangning Zhang” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.