Zhou Chaonan is a Chinese businesswoman, the chairman of Range Intelligent Computing Technology Group (SZSE: 002925), a provider of data center services.

Zhou had a traditional start to her career, working as a teacher briefly before securing a job at a state-owned logistics hub in her home town of Hengyang in Hunan Province. She worked for various state-owned firms for almost two decades, and didn't launch her own business until 2000—when Zhou was already in her 40s.

• Core Company: Range Intelligent Computing Technology Group (Data center services).
• Founding: Officially set up Range in 2009.
• Career Start: Worked as a teacher briefly and then at state-owned logistics hub.

Zhou Chaonan's career is marked by her late-career entrepreneurial success after almost two decades in the state sector. Her structural achievement is tied to founding and leading Range Intelligent Computing Technology Group into a major provider of data center services, a critical backbone for the digital economy.

She officially set up Range in 2009, and the company went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in a backdoor listing in 2022.

• Late Start: Did not launch her own business until 2000, in her 40s.
• IPO: Went public in a backdoor listing in 2022.