Milking the small appliances sector

This year is Zhang Hong's 24th working in China's consumer electronics industry.

In her hometown of Shenyang, in Liaoning province, she was very well known for being the first Sony Corp authorized Chinese distributor in the nation in the 1990s. She is now more famous in many countries for her new nickname - queen of the Chinese homemade yogurt machine.

Zhang was a technician at an electronic coach manufacturer from 1988. She then turned to distributing Sony consumer electronic products in 1995. In 2004, she started up her own business, Rikon Corp, making the yogurt machines. "In the 1990s, after we received China's first authorization from Sony, sales of electronic products were unbelievably good," Zhang said, "Our sales revenue reached 200 million yuan ($37.15 million) one year."