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Thousands of Billionaires: China’s Richest, 2009

Thousands of Billionaires: China’s Richest, 2009

Wang Chuanfu, CEO of BYD Co is the richest man in china
Wang Chuanfu 王传福, CEO of BYD Co., the wealthiest person in China

Although the full 2009 Hurun Rich List won’t be released until mid-October, Hurun Report (胡润百富榜) has gone public with the top two spots. The richest person in China is now Wang Chuangfu (王传福), with 35 billion RMB in assets (5.13 billion USD). Zhang Yin (张茵) and her family ranked second with assets of 33 billion RMB.

According to CNA Financial Reports, this year’s Hurun China Rich List – an annual ranking of China’s wealthiest – includes over 1,000 billionaires (in RMB), a significantly higher bar than the 700 million RMB it took to make the list last year.

Wang Chuanfu, 43, is a native of Anhui, dubbed the “technology maniac” and “automobiles maniac” for his keen business sense in both the industries. Wang soared from his ranking last year – 103rd place – by increasing his wealth from 29 billion to 35 billion RMB over the course of the last year; an increase of almost 880 million USD.

In 1995, Wang founded BYD Company Ltd., a company active in the rechargeable battery and mobile phones industry; in 2003, BYD entered into auto manufacturing for the first time.

BYD Co. was first listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2002. Wang currently holds 27.83% of the shares – currently worth about 120 billion RMB. However, because Wang's stakes in the company are largely A shares, and are not entirely liquid assets, Hurun Report made adjustments in their calculations to arrive at total assets of 35 billion RMB.

In 2008, Warren Buffett brought 10% stake in BYD for 1.8 billion HKD (roughly 232 million USD), and in the annual shareholders meeting this year,Buffett referred to Wang as a “true superstar”.

Zhang Yin and her family placed second with a total of 33 billion RMB in assets this year – advancing thirteen places from their 15th place ranking last year. This remarks a return to the top three for the Zhang family who placed in the top three in 2006 and 2007. Zhang's company, Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd., was founded in 1995 and is the largest paper and cardboard manufacturer in China.

Zhang Yin and family (her husband Liu and brother Zhang) hold a total of 72.25% of the stake in Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd. Hurun has calculated the total shares and assets of Zhang Yin and family at 33 million RMB.

China’s Wealthiest 1999-2009

Year

Name

Industry

Assets (in billions of RMB)

1999

Rong Yiren 荣毅仁

General

8

2000

Rong Yiren荣毅仁

General

15

2001

and his brother Yonghao 刘永行刘永好兄弟

Agriculture

8.3

2002

Rong Zhijian荣智健

General

7

2003

Ding Lei 丁磊

Internet

7.6

2004

Huang Guangyu 黄光裕

Retail, real estate

10.5

2005

Huang Guangyu黄光裕

Retail, real estate

14

2006

Zhang Yin and family 张茵家族

Paper

27

2007

Yang Huiyan 杨惠研

Real estate

130

2008

Huang Guangyu 黄光裕

Retail, real estate

43

2009

Wang Chuanfu 王传福

Cars, mobile phone parts, rechargeable batteries

35

Oct 08, 2009eChinacities.com
Source: gcpnews.com
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