A woman has topped the Hurun list of China's richest people for the first time, Reuters reported. Cheung Yan, the 49 year-old founder and chairwoman of top Chinese paper packager Nine Dragons Paper, saw her fortune balloon nine-fold to US$3.4 billion following her firm's March initial public offering. She brushed aside two-time leader Huang Guangyu of GOME Electrical Appliances and a number of CEOs at state owned enterprises on her way to the top. Her personal wealth leapt from US$375 million last year, when she was number 36 in the annual survey, compiled by Rupert Hoogewerf since 1999, to surpass appliances king Huang's US$2.5 billion. The 500 richest Chinese in the Hurun report are now worth an average of US$276 million, a 48% rise over the previous year, controlling a total US$138 billion in assets. The number of Chinese billionaires on the list increased to 13, from seven last year and just three in 2004.
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