Wealth shrinks for China's richest

The number of super-rich in China has fallen over the past year, with fewer US dollar-denominated billionaires for the first time in seven years, Financial Times reported. In the Hurun Rich List’s annual report released Monday, the number of billionaires fell from 271 to 251. During the past year, 37 out of the 1,000 richest saw a 50% drop in their wealth. Half of the 1,000 saw a fall in their wealth, and overall average wealth fell 9% to US$860 million. While the figures appear poor, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said that “entrepreneurs are still up 40% on two years ago and almost 10 times 10 years ago.” In 2006, there were only 15 billionaires in China. At the top of the rich list stands Zong Qinhou of Wahaha, a beverage company, with wealth of US$12.6 billion.