https://mothership.sg/2026/02/waitress-to-ceo-yang-lijuan-haidilao/

Waitress rises through the ranks to become Haidilao CEO

Yang Lijuan was named among the world’s top 50 richest self-made women in 2021.

February 13, 2026, 05:18 PM

Yang Lijuan, a senior executive at Chinese hotpot giant Haidilao, has drawn widespread attention to her unlikely career trajectory.

She started out as a frontline waitress before going on to take charge of the company’s international business.

Often described online as “China’s most capable waitress”, Yang’s story mirrors the rapid growth of Haidilao itself, from a small Sichuan eatery into one of the world’s best-known Chinese dining chains.

Now, aged 47, Yang currently serves as chief executive of Super Hi, the entity overseeing Haidilao’s restaurants outside China.

Teenage dropout shaped by hardship

Born in Sichuan in 1978, Yang left school as a teenager amid debts faced by her family.

She entered the workforce at just 16, according to VNExpress, when many of her peers were still continuing their studies.

Shortly after that, in 1995, when she was 17 that year, she joined Haidilao as a waitress, at a time when the brand was still a modest local operation in southwestern China.

Her early duties were far from glamorous.

She reportedly worked long hours handling customer service, cleaning, and even polishing shoes, experiences that later helped form her disciplined approach to work.

Yang’s first year at the restaurant was marked by personal strain, as creditors reportedly appeared at her home demanding repayment of debts owed by her family.

The company’s founder, Zhang Yong, stepped in and offered her 800 yuan (S$147), roughly twice the city’s average monthly wage at the time, an act Yang reportedly never forgot.

The gesture is said to have convinced her to remain with Haidilao long-term, laying the foundation for a decades-long climb through the company.

Rapid promotions as Haidilao expanded nationwide

Yang’s rise was swift.

By the age of 19, she had become a store manager.

Two years later, she was tasked with leading Haidilao’s first expansion beyond Sichuan, opening an outlet in Xi’an, which is the brand’s first major step outside its home province, as reported by South China Morning Post.

She reportedly spent her days running the restaurant and her nights teaching herself how to manage staff, suppliers, and customer complaints.

Within a year, the Xi’an branch became one of the company’s strongest performers.

One widely repeated anecdote of her leadership describes her confronting more than 60 armed troublemakers at the Xi’an outlet in 1999, rather than abandoning her staff and fleeing.

Steering Haidilao overseas, including to Singapore

As Haidilao began expanding internationally, Yang’s responsibilities grew.

In 2012, while overseeing operations across the chain, she played a role in the opening of Haidilao’s first overseas branch in Singapore along with their expansion into the United States.

She would travel personally to these overseas branches in order to inspect supply chains, study local dining habits, negotiate leases, and adapt Haidilao’s service model to suit overseas customers, reported VNExpress.

Reversal and automation layoffs

Yang became Haidilao’s chief operating officer in 2018, the same year the company listed in Hong Kong.

In 2021, she was named among the world’s top 50 richest self-made women by the Hurun Rich List and ranked seventh among China’s wealthiest professional managers.

In 2022, she was appointed CEO after founder Zhang Yong stepped down.

Her tenure at the top coincided with one of the most challenging periods in Haidilao’s history, as rising costs and operational pressures forced the company to restructure.

Yang later led a major internal campaign that resulted in the closure of roughly 300 underperforming outlets, helping reverse the company’s losses.

The chain posted a net profit of 4.5 billion yuan (about S$823.5 million) in 2023, as cited by SCMP, a year-on-year increase of 174.6 per cent, marking a dramatic return to profitability.

Under Yang’s leadership, Haidilao also introduced “smart hotpot restaurant” initiatives, including service robots, AI-based ordering systems, and kitchen automation aimed at improving efficiency and reducing labour costs.

However, these changes also reduced the need for some frontline roles.

Yang sought to support affected staff, personally meeting workers facing redundancy and helping them explore alternative employment options.

She said: “A business can only grow if its workers are protected.”

Leading Haidilao’s international unit

In 2024, Yang stepped down as CEO of Haidilao and took on a new role as head of Super Hi, the company’s overseas operator.

By mid-2024, the company was operating more than 1,300 outlets across China and abroad.

She has continued focusing on profitability in international markets, with customer traffic in overseas branches reportedly rising to 8.1 million in the third quarter of 2025.

Her achievements have earned her recognition beyond the company.

Yang’s journey from waitress to international chief executive has resonated with many online, inspiring admiration for her resilience and loyalty.

As one commenter put it: “A hero is a hero, regardless of their background.”

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