2010-10-28 14:55

SINGAPORE - China has produced 49 more billionaires in the past year, bringing the total to 128, up from 79 last year, Forbes Asia said on Thursday.

Of the 128 tycoons with a 10-figure net worth, nine are under the age of 40, 11 are women, and Shenzhen leads with 17 billionaires, followed by Beijing with 15 and Shanghai with 10.

Also noteworthy is that 10 percent of the 400 richest Chinese in Forbes Asia's latest overall ranking get all or part of their fortunes from China's healthcare sector.

Topping this year's list is Zong Qinghou, the chairman of beverage giant Wahaha, with an $8 billion net worth, compared with $4.8 billion last year.

Zong knocked off last year's richest man Wang Chuanfu, who is now worth $4.25 billion and ranked No 10 after losing over $1.5 billion.

Robin Li comes in second with $7.2 billion after seeing his net worth jump by more than $4 billion on the rapid growth of the world's biggest population of internet users. Shares of his company Baidu, soared 143 percent over the past year.

At No 3 is Liang Wengen, worth $5.9 billion.

Former journalist and now property tycoon Wu Yajun is China's richest woman. She is at No 8 with a net worth $4.7 billion which she shares with her family.