More billionaires than ever in China

China's richest have grown richer despite slowing
economic growth, with this year's Forbes China
Rich List identifying a record 168 billionaires, up
from 113 the previous year.
The combined wealth of the top 100 wealthiest
Chinese also surged 44 per cent to US$316
billion this year, in contrast with a 7 per cent
drop last year, according to the latest list
released on Wednesday by the American
business magazine.
Leading the pack was real estate and movie
mogul Wang Jianlin, chairman of the Dalian
Wanda group, who saw his net worth go from $8
billion last year to $14.1 billion this year.
This came amid a rebound in property prices in
China and Wang's expansion into the
entertainment business at home and abroad.
Just last month, Wang enjoyed the limelight
when he invited Hollywood A-lister Leonardo
DiCaprio, star of The Great Gatsby, to the port
city of Qingdao to attend the launch of his $8
million movie hub project.
Wanda group owns 71 shopping plazas and 40
five-star hotels, Forbes said in the release.
Wang overtook drinks king Zong Qinghou of
Wahaha Group as China's richest man. Zong was
in the news recently after he was stabbed in the
hand by an unemployed man upset with the
tycoon for refusing to hire him.
Forbes' findings echoed another China rich list
released last month by the Hurun Report, which
also found a rise in the number of US dollar
billionaires to a record 315.
China's economy grew just 7.7 per cent last year,
its slowest since 1999.
"On one level, there appears to be a disconnect
between the very rapid growth in wealth and the
country's easing economic growth. Yet it reflects
what is happening in the real economy and the
ability of smart business people to profit from
it," said Forbes senior editor Russell Flannery.
The list reflects the fastest-growing parts of
China's economy this year, such as Internet,
auto, entertainment and property businesses, he
added.
This year's list features tech entrepreneur Robin
Li of search engine Baidu, Pony Ma of gaming
and social media group Tencent and Jack Ma of
e-commerce giant Alibaba.
The list also includes 87 new entrants to the list,
such as clean energy tycoon Li Hejun. The
chairman of Hanergy Holding Group, one of the
biggest global makers of thin-film solar panels
and equipment, was ranked China's fourth
richest with $10.9 billion.
The only woman in the top 10 was heiress Yang
Huiyan of real estate group Country Garden
Holdings, who is worth $7.2 billion.
Economist Wang Xiaolu, who has written about
the growth of grey income - unaccounted sources
of income - in China, said Forbes ' latest findings
underline how the rich are getting richer.
"This trend is not unusual but if it continues, it
may worsen the wealth gap in China and is not
a good phenomenon," he told The Straits Times.
China's Gini coefficient, a measure of income
disparity, stood at 0.474 last year, which is still
seen as relatively unequal though it has gone
down from a peak of 0.491 in 2008.
The annual list was compiled with data from
families, individuals, stock exchanges, analysts
and China's regulatory agencies, said Forbes.
Public fortunes were calculated using stock
prices and exchange rates on September 26.