Booming shares boost China's super-rich

The sharp rebound in Chinese stocks has seen the total fortune of the nation's ultra-wealthy balloon by $141 billion, Forbes magazine said today as it released its annual China rich list.

The net worth of the country's 400 richest people rose to a record $314 billion in the year to November from $173 billion a year ago, Forbes said in a report.

The list consists of a record 79 dollar billionaires, as opposed to just 24 last year, after the Hong Kong and Shanghai bourses soared 56% and 69% respectively, the magazine said.

'Chinese entrepreneurs went through lots of difficulties last year. Now wealth is coming back,' Forbes senior editor Russell Flannery said.

'The gains in their personal fortunes were a sharp reversal to the losses sustained by billionaires in other parts of the world, and reflected the rise of China,' he said.

BYD car battery tycoon Wang Chuanfu came out on top with a fortune of $5.8 billion. Wang also topped the recently released Hurun Rich List for China.

The rankings illustrate how fortunes have recovered from last year when China's super-wealthy were hit hard by the global credit crunch and financial crisis. There were fewer billionaires in China than in the US - where the number fell to 391 from 487 last year - but the Asian giant was catching up fast.

'Chinese people have less money than Americans. But the wealth accumulated by successful Chinese businesspeople is on the rise while that of US businesspeople is on the decline, indicating the wealth is migrating,' Forbes said.

Last year's number one, Liu Yongxing, slipped to second spot despite increasing his fortune to $5.5 billion - up $2.5 billion on 2008.

Liu made his money through privately held agricultural company East Hope and stakes in China Minsheng Bank, Minsheng Insurance and Bright Dairy.

Yang Huiyan, the wealthiest woman on the list, ranked fifth after seeing her fortune increase by 75% to $3.9 billion. But she is still well below her 2007 net worth of $16.2 billion. The 28-year-old's fortune was tied up in Guangdong developer Country Gardens, run by her father Yeung Kwok Keung, who transferred shares to her, Forbes said.

The highest ranking newcomer to the list was Liu Zhongtian, in eighth spot, whose aluminium products maker China Zhongwang raised $1.3 billion in an initial public offering in April.

Shanghai, the financial hub of China, was home to more super-rich people than any other city in the country, with 45. Beijing has 38 ultra-wealthy people and the southern boomtown of Shenzhen has 35.