Mr Lee is in charge of day-to-day operations, planning corporate strategies, handling corporate planning and overseeing overall management of the group.

Experienced in product development, the purchasing of raw materials and the selling of paper, he received the Young Industrialist Award of Hong Kong in 2002 from the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. He was a recipient of the Hong Kong Junior Chamber of Commerce's Ten Outstanding Young Persons Selection Award in 2003. He received the Bronze Bauhinia Star in 2005.

'Setting up the business was difficult because the family had zero experience in making paper,' Mr Lee said. 'We learned a lot of tough lessons along the way in the sense that we were being cheated in many different ways because of our lack of experience.

'For example, I didn't know how a building should be built, and the advice I was given was the most inefficient and expensive way there was of doing it. We also needed to buy a lot of machinery for the paper production line, but a lot of what we bought was essentially useless and broke down after two days. That really taught me that in the business world you really have to be careful - especially in a place like China because a lot of people are only after your money.'

By strategically locating its manufacturing facilities in the Pearl and Yangtze river deltas, Lee & Man has positioned itself at the forefront of the containerboard industry to take advantage of China's vast opportunities.

Its production facilities in Huangyong, a village near Dongguan, cover more than 400,000 square metres and are capable of producing up to 650,000 tonnes of paper products per year. The plant near Shanghai covers about 600,000 square metres and can produce 550,000 tonnes per year. The company acquired 1 million square metres at another site in Dongguan to build a third production plant at a cost of HK$950 million in 2004. It can produce 400,000 tonnes per year.

Two of the plants have already been awarded ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification, internationally recognised marks of top quality environmental management. The group's workforce now totals about 3,000 people.

'We plan to expand our capacity to meet the needs of the growing market in China,' Mr Lee said. 'Because China is such a big place we are looking to invest in other parts of the country, particularly in the west and the north.'

Old corrugated cardboard, known in the industry as OCC, is the main raw material used in Lee & Man's linerboard and corrugated medium products. The company imports most of its OCC from the United States, where it acquired a pulp mill in 2005. It is also planning to set up sourcing companies in Europe and Japan. 'When I got started I was twentysomething and a little naive,' Mr Lee said. 'I thought I could trust everybody. [My early experiences] made me a little more cautious about things. You should always look after yourself.'

Ten Things I Know

1 Learn how to manage people. It is not just about making money in business. It is also about managing people. A company is essentially a group of people. Growing as fast as we have with so many different mills and offices, I have learned that strategy is one thing and execution another. People can talk a beautiful story but actually being able to do it can be quite difficult at times.

2 Look for team players. While everyone obviously wants the smartest person they can find, as a fairly big company, we are always looking for management people that are able to follow orders and be a team player. Sometimes being a hotshot doesn't always help the company - no matter how smart the guy is. If he doesn't follow orders he doesn't help the company.

3 Be realistic. In a financial sense, do only what you are capable of. Don't overextend yourself. A lot of smart people over-expand and end up going bankrupt. It is important to expand, but within your capabilities.

4 Stick to what you understand. If you don't understand something, don't do it. The reason you don't understand it is probably that it doesn't make sense and people might simply be after your money. If I don't understand how something would make money, it probably wouldn't make money.

5 Be careful doing business in China. I remember that my first sale in China was handled by me personally. The guy said that he would pay in two weeks and asked to buy more on credit. Before I was able to collect, he ran away. My advice is to always collect the money first or, if you have to issue credit, do a very good background check.

6 Don't be dependent on your customers. I remember that when we were quite small we were quite focused on just a few customers. One of our customers' businesses didn't go too well and this caused us a lot of problems because a lot of our business depended on that one customer. So diversify your risks by selling to several customers. It is better to have several small orders from many customers than to have one big order from one big customer.

7 Don't be dependent on your suppliers. If business is going really well, they will try to squeeze you. So despite better business, you won't see better profits yourself. Over the past few years we went out and bought some of our suppliers so as not to be too dependent on them. Because our pulp mill in the United States accounted for 20 to 30 per cent of our costs, we bought them out in 2004. It was a wise decision on our part because it would have been very difficult to expand otherwise.

8 Ask for help. Don't be afraid to ask for help - anywhere, any place, any time. My father has played a very important role in the business. I was never too proud to ask for help when I really needed it. For example, when I wanted to add a second production line we didn't have the cash. That is when he came in and helped, and this really put us on the map in the paper-making industry. It is what allowed us to become competitive in China.

9 Don't be afraid to use friends. Many people are afraid to use family members or friends, but I think if they can be useful, use them. But manage them the same way as you would manage anyone else. I have fired family members and friends when I thought they were hurting the company.

10 Stay healthy. Everyone is equally smart, but it could be your health that takes you to the next level. If you are sick every other day it is going to be very difficult to get ahead. I work out every other day so I have the energy to work long hours if I have to.