Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Singapore’s wealthiest man is US$1 billion richer every month as Mindray’s ventilators fly off production line on Covid-19 demand

The wealth of Li Xiting, Shenzhen Mindray’s co-founder, has risen by 47 per cent this year to around US$13.5 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The company has received an order for about 10,000 ventilators from Italy alone

Singapore’s wealthiest man is getting richer to the tune of more than US$1 billion a month this year, as the stock price of his medical devices company soared by almost 50 per cent amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The fortunes of Li Xiting, the co-founder and chairman of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, have risen by US$4.3 billion this year to US$13.5 billion, according to Bloomberg data, or an average of US$37.7 million every 24 hours. That makes Li, born in eastern China’s Anhui province, the wealthiest man in Singapore, where he has been a citizen since at least 2018.

Mindray’s shares have jumped since the coronavirus pandemic, which was first reported in central China’s Hubei province, spread worldwide, sickening more than 2 million people. The stock on Thursday traded near a record-high of 270.52 yuan on the ChiNext market in Shenzhen, giving it a market value of 329 billion yuan (US$46.5 billion).

“Orders for our products increased sharply in March,” Mindray said in an email to a query by South China Morning Post. “We received orders from 100-odd countries for our medical devices to fight against the epidemic.”

The company, whose products include imaging devices and patient monitors, said it received an order for about 10,000 ventilators from Italy alone, declining to divulge the price of each device. Italy has Europe’s second-highest caseload, with 187,327 confirmed cases at last count, and a death toll of 25,085.

Ventilators provide mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe.

Unlike surgical masks and other forms of protective clothing that have attracted the investments of hundreds of companies from apparel makers to real estate developers, the production of medical ventilators is highly specialised due to its technical nature and a shortage of critical components.

BYD, the mainland’s largest electric car maker has installed the world's largest production line for face masks which can churn out up to 20 million pieces per day.



Mindray, which became a publicly traded company in 2018, is one of only a handful of such assemblers in mainland China, dubbed the world’s factory. Chinese factories can produce about 2,200 invasive ventilators every week, about 20 per cent of the world’s capacity, according to Xu Kemin, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Between March 19 and 29, China exported 1,700 invasive ventilators to other countries, he added.

“There is a high bar for the ventilator business,” said James Liu, chief executive of Shanghai Junhanxi, a dealer for medical devices. “Everyone is scrambling for medical ventilators now as orders from overseas markets surge, but it is not easy for the existing players to increase the supply.”

Li, 69, hails from Dangshan, a county in rural Anhui best known for its orchards that produce pears ad peaches for export. Li studied physics in China, specialising in the field of cryogenics, before becoming a visiting scholar at the University of Paris-Sud during the early 1980s.

From an early career in research, Li went to work for a medical equipment company in southern China’s technology hub before branching off on his own to establish Mindray in 1991 with Xu Hang and Cheng Minghe.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
×