The annual list of Chinese billionaires has once again shown that China has more dollar billionaires than the United States and that the gap between the two countries is widening, British media reported on Thursday.
Real estate magnate Wang Jianlin from Dalian Wanda topped the list of 594 billionaires in China, while the USA has 535. His personal wealth amounts to $32.1 billion, reported the British BBC on Thursday. He is closely followed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma with a fortune of $30.6 billion, which has increased by 41 percent over the past year. The third place, with $24.6 billion, was taken by Pony Ma from Tencent, an internet and online betting giant.
The annual list of billionaires in China was compiled by the Shanghai publishing house Hurun and is often compared to Forbes’ list. Hurun’s report on billionaires is closely monitored and is the most accurate estimate of wealth in China. The annual report has been published for 18 years.
The biggest advancement on the list was made by Yao Zhengua from the investment and real estate company Baoneng Group, whose wealth has more than ninefold increased to $17.2 billion, earning him fourth place. His rise, according to Hurun’s president Rupert Hoogewerf, illustrates changes in the maturing Chinese economy.
– Financial modeling of investment projects by the fourth-placed individual represents a new wave of wealth creation in China. The first money earned in China 20 years ago came from trading, followed by manufacturing, real estate, information technology (IT), and today financial investments through capital markets are important for wealth accumulation, Hoogewerf explained.
