Despite its economy slowing down, China managed to rank higher than the United States in billionaire numbers. It is the first time in history this ever happened.
The number of extremely wealthy people in China is 596, with an increase of nearly 50 percent from last year. The 2015 Hurun Rich List shows that over the last 12 months, five new names were added to the rich people list every week. The United States has "only" 537 billionaires.
"China is now officially the most exciting country in the world for entrepreneurship. Just look at the sheer numbers of top entrepreneurs, eclipsing the United States for the first time in its history," Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, Rupert Hoogewerf, pointed out.
He further stated that China keeps on being a haven for manufacturers worldwide, but it will take some time until the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country is on par with that of the United States.
The following statement might give historians a bit of a headache, but if numbers are calculated for Greater China - merging Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong billionaires - with those from China, we will see a total of 715 extremely wealthy people.
Wang Jianlin, the chairman of real estate developer Wanda, qualifies as the richest Chinese resident, after taking the title from Alibaba e-commerce portal founder, Jack Ma. Wang made good use of this year's opportunities, doubling his wealth to $34 billion.
Interestingly, self-made entrepreneurs occupy six positions at the top of the list. Even more interesting, all of them are below 40 years old.
A reading of the full China's Rich List shows the names of the 1,877 most prosperous individuals. To be on it, one had to report a wealth of at least $310 million. Promising for global entrepreneurship is the fact that self-made millionaires or billionaires occupy 95 percent of the list.
Good news for feminists everywhere is that women represent 20 percent of the list.
Information technology, real estate and production of goods are industries that pumped the Chinese GDP to being larger than that of India or Russia. The report indicates that the total wealth of the country is now at $2.1 trillion.
The 10 most well-off people in China today are:
1. Wang Jianlin, 61, chairman, Wanda $34.4 billion
2. Jack Ma, 51, founder and chairman, Alibaba $22.7 billion
3. Zong Qinghou, 70, chairman and CEO, Wahaha $21.1 billion
4. Pony Ma Huateng, 44, founder and CEO, Tencent $18.8 billion
5. Lei Jun, 46, founder, Xiaomi Technology $14.4 billion
6. Yan Hao, 29, CEO, China Pacific Construction $14.2 billion
7. Robin Li Yanhong, 46, chairman and CEO, Baidu $13.3 billion
8. Lu Zhiqiang, 63, Fanhai $13 billion
9. Zhang Jindong, 52, founder and president, Suning $12.7 billion
10. Lu Guanqiu, 69, founder and chairman, Wanxiang $10.2 billion
