China is adding another billionaire in US dollars just about every day. Their number rose last year by 300 to almost 1200. This is reported by the Chinese magazine Hurun, which, like Quote, publishes an annual list of the wealthiest inhabitants of the country.
The wealthiest Chinese is the mineral water entrepreneur Zhong Shanshan. He has an estimated net worth of 60.6 billion dollars.
Zhang Yiming, the 38-year-old founder of video app TikTok, has nearly $53 billion. The chief executive of car battery manufacturer CATL, Zeng Yuqun, is in third place with more than $47 billion. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, is fifth on the list.
Due to the Chinese housing market crisis, there is no real estate entrepreneur in the top ten for the first time. Xu Jiayin, the founder of the ailing Chinese real estate developer Evergrande, fell to the 70th spot on Hurun’s list.
In 2017, Xu still topped the list. However, earlier in the day, it was announced that the Chinese authorities had asked the billionaire also to use his personal assets to solve the huge problems at the group.