'It will be used for charity': Man turns Rs 53,360 into Rs 53,360 crore, builds steamed bun business

He rebranded as Babi Steamed Bun to attract more customers. (Representational image/AI)

• Liu Huiping grew Babi Steamed Bun to a 180 million yuan enterprise.
• He overcame bankruptcy, injury, and attacks to expand nationwide
• Babi Food surpasses 5,600 stores, backs education programs

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A school dropout from eastern China who once faced bankruptcy and a violent attack has built a steamed bun business that now earns about 180 million yuan (around Rs 2,256 crore) every year.

Liu Huiping, 49, is from Anhui province, often called China’s “hometown of dough makers.” To reduce the financial burden on his parents, Liu left secondary school early. He first learned furniture making, but later became interested in making Chinese buns.

In 1998, Liu borrowed 4,000 yuan (about Rs 3.68 lakh) and moved to Shanghai to open his first steamed bun shop. However, the business failed quickly because he lacked experience and soon fell into debt. He then worked several small jobs, including selling seafood, killing snakes at markets and working as a cook. Despite the struggles, he never gave up on starting a business.

In 2001, he restarted his breakfast shop called Master Liu’s Steamed Bun. Liu studied the local market by visiting many snack shops and noticed issues such as poor hygiene and flavour loss in machine-made food. He used good-quality pork and chopped the filling by hand to keep the taste fresh. His buns were priced at 0.7 yuan (about Rs 64) and soon became popular.

Later, he renamed the brand Babi Steamed Bun after realising that a modern name could attract more customers. The move helped the brand grow quickly across Shanghai.

Liu’s journey was not easy. In 2004, a competitor attacked him with scissors and injured his eye. In another accident, a machine cut off his left thumb while he was working on a new product, though doctors later reattached it.

Despite the hardships, he continued expanding his business. In 2008, he built a factory in Shanghai, and in 2020, Babi Food Company was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Today, the brand has more than 5,600 stores across China, and Liu is also known for donating money to support education and poor students.