Founder of Nippon Paint, Wu Qingliang, passed away.

On August 12, Wu Qingliang, the founder of Wu De Nan Holdings Group and the "Nippon Paint" brand, passed away at the age of 98. The Wu family released a statement saying that Wu Qingliang passed away peacefully in Singapore with family by his side. Wu Qingliang was born in 1927 in Singapore, with ancestral roots in Dawu Village, Fuyang Town, Chaonan District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province. Despite humble beginnings, he built his fortune from scratch and went from being a poor laborer to the "Paint King of Asia," becoming a legend in the business world. According to the Nippon Paint China official website, Nippon Paint's China headquarters is currently located in Shanghai, with over 70 production bases invested and built in China, employing nearly 11,000 people. In August 2020, the listed company Japanese Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. announced that it had reached a deal with the Singapore Wu De Nan Group with a total value of 1.29 trillion yen, and after completing the transaction, it would become a subsidiary of the group. In May 2025, with a net worth of $13 billion, Wu Qingliang ranked 182nd on the Forbes Global Billionaires List, the richest person in Singapore.