Zhong Shanshan, founder of Nongfu Spring Photo: CFP

China kept its top ranking on the Hurun Global Rich List 2022 with 1,133 billion-dollar entrepreneurs, an increase of 75 from last year, followed by the US and India, according to the list released by the Hurun Research Institute on Thursday.

The list underlined robust growth in various industries in China, including technology, consumer market and advanced manufacturing, despite a complex global environment and growing downward pressure on the domestic economy, experts said.  

In spite of lingering fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of entrepreneurs with a net worth of more than $1 billion worldwide reached a new high, totaling 3,381 persons. Ten of these people have more than $100 billion in wealth, double the number of last year. 

Among them, the number of high net worth individuals from China and the US accounted for 55 percent of those featuring on the list.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was the world's richest man for the second year in a row with an estimated wealth of 1.29 trillion yuan ($203.2 billion), up 4 percent from last year, while CEO of Nongfu Spring Zhong Shanshan reigned as China's richest man with 455 billion yuan, 15th in the world.

The cut-off date for calculating the wealth of the listed entrepreneurs was January 14, 2022.

Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder and chief researcher of the institute, whose Chinese name is Hu Run, said that since 2016, when China first surpassed the US, the number of billionaire entrepreneurs in the US has increased more than 30 percent, while that of China doubled.

Hu noted that China now has more than 1,100 billion-dollar entrepreneurs, 60 percent more than the US, which also exceeds the combined number of the US, India and the UK. 

Zhong Shanshan is still China's richest man, although his wealth has dropped by nearly 100 billion yuan. The ranking of ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming rose to second place in China from fifth last year, with his wealth remained unchanged at 340 billion yuan. 

The wealth of CATL founder Zeng Yuqun reached 335 billion yuan, growing more than 100 billion yuan, making him the third-richest entrepreneur of the country.

Pony Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent, who ranked second last year, saw his wealth drop to 330 billion yuan, coming in fourth this year in China, while Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun ranked fifth with his wealth standing at 235 billion yuan. This year's list marks the first time that the two high-profile commercial entrepreneurs have fallen out of the top three in China since 2015. 

Meanwhile, some Chinese billionaires saw a contraction of their assets, with a total of 160 dropping out of the ranking, which accounted for about half of the total 337 drop-outs. E-commerce platforms, real estate, education, generic drugs and vaping were sectors that saw the biggest value evaporation. 

The country has tightened regulations on these sectors to further ensure the healthy and stable development of these industries and protect consumer rights, experts said.

The report also showed that Shenzhen, China's tech hub, has become the world's third-largest city of residence for billion-dollar entrepreneurs, followed by Beijing and Shanghai.

Global Times