India, April 22 -- A Chinese immigrant entrepreneur who once worked gruelling 12-hour shifts on fishing boats in Alaska has shared how he built a multi-million-dollar restaurant business in the United States. In a conversation with Business Insider, Jack Ng, who is now the founder of NGMA Group, recalled growing up in extreme poverty in rural China, where his family lived on a rice paddy without electricity or running water.

"The idea of coming to America felt like going into space. It was a dream that was almost unimaginable," Jack told Business Insider.

He shared that the dream became a reality when he was 12, after his uncle, who owned a Chinese restaurant in Washington, sponsored his parents' work visas. He moved to the US with them...