Chinese billionaires see rise in wealth

By Shi Jing (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-09-23 15:09

Despite the jitters in the Chinese economy this year, the Chinese billionaires have seen their wealth expand, with the total wealth of the 2014 Hurun Rich List released on Tuesday reaching $1.4 trillion, equivalent to 15 percent of China's GDP and larger than the GDP of countries like Spain.

There are a total of 354 dollar billionaires, up 39 compared to that of last year. There were only three such billionaires 10 years ago. A total of 819 shortlisted billionaires have seen their wealth grow, of which 343 are new faces.

Jack Ma, 50, founder of Alibaba Group Holdings Limited has been crowned the richest man in China. A 38 percent rise in Alibaba's stock on the first day of trading rocketed Ma into the number one position with a fortune of $25 billion, up five times compared to that last year.

Wang Jianlin, 60, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, has seen his wealth grow 7 percent to reach $24.2 billion. But it was not enough to keep his number one title. Wang's domestic real estate business grew by a staggering 30 percent to $31 billion last year, and in September this year, Wang announced Wanda was going for a Hong Kong listing, which could value the business as much as $50 billion.

Li Hejun, 47, chairman and CEO of Hanergy Holdings Group, shot up to third place with a fortune of $20.8 billion. Today Li's solar business generates the equivalent of the electricity needed to power a city with a population of 10 million for a year.