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26-year-old woman is China's richest person: Forbes
Posted: 08 October 2007 2049 hrs






BEIJING - A 26-year-old woman property developer tops this year's Forbes list of the richest people in China, grabbing the number one spot with a net worth of 16 billion dollars, the US magazine said Monday.

That amount also makes Yang Huiyan the richest woman in Asia, according to a statement from Forbes.

All 40 people on Forbes Asia's 2007 China Rich List are billionaires, compared with only 15 last year, it said, attributing the rise to a boom in the nation's stock and property markets.

Their combined net worth is 120 billion dollars, up more than three times from last year's 38 billion dollars, it said.

The list was published as China prepares for the opening next week of the 17th Congress of the Communist Party, where the growing gap between rich and poor is likely to be among the top agenda items.

The nation's rulers are concerned that the widening difference between the haves and have-nots could endanger social cohesion in the world's most populous nation.

Yang, a graduate of Ohio State University, is the daughter of Yeung Kwok Keung, the co-founder of Country Garden Holdings, a property development firm.

Yeung transferred his shareholdings to his daughter in 2005, and she now sits on the company's board as an executive director, Forbes said.

Yang is one of more than a dozen property developers to make this year's Rich List, reflecting roaring demand for homes and real estate investments, according to Forbes.

"Household incomes are rising rapidly, and a growing number of people are moving into cities from rural areas," said list compiler Russell Flannery.

"Those trends are creating great business opportunity for property developers in the country."

The latest Forbes list had 20 newcomers including solar energy entrepreneur Peng Xiaofeng.

Last year's number one, Wong Kwong Yu, fell to number 10 even though his fortune increased by 56 percent to 3.6 billion dollars, the statement said.

The list underlined that south China, where economic reform first took off more than two decades ago, remained the centre of gravity for the country's economic might.

South China's free-wheeling Guangdong province produced 13 billionaires, more than any other region, according to Forbes.

"Guangdong has been overshadowed of late because the Beijing Olympics and Shanghai's growing international role have attracted a lot of attention," Flannery said in the statement.

"This list illustrates that southern China still has plenty of money and plenty of entrepreneurial zest."

Rich lists are seen as important barometers of wider changes affecting the global economy.

The number of billionaires in China and India nearly doubled in 2006, pushing Japan from Asia's top spot for the first time in 20 years, Forbes Magazine said earlier this year. - AFP/ir