Wahaha Group's Zong tops Hurun China Rich List 2010

The complete list, which includes 1,363 individuals with a personal wealth of at least one billion Chinese yuan (US$150 million), will be released mid-October.

At 65 years old, Zong Qinghou boasts with personal fortune of US$12 billion and tops the list up from 12th position last year. Wahaha, currently responsible for 30,000 employees, is expected to pull in a profit of US$1.5 billion in the domestic drinks market this year.

Hepalink Pharmaceutical's owner Li Li takes second place with US$6 billion. 46-year-old Li, founded the company with his wife Li Tan and her cousin Shan Yu in 1998. Li is the first pharmaceutical tycoon to make it into top five.

The list further includes Zhang Yin of paper manufacturer Nine Dragons Paper (US$5.6 billion), Liang Wengen of Sany Heay (US$5.4 bllion), Robin Li Yanhong from search giant Baidu (US$5.3 billion) and Yan Bin of conglomerate Ruoy Chai (US$5.3 billion).

Robin's personal wealth has doubled this year thanks to its competitor Google pulling out of Chinese market.

"China probably now has the largest number of billionaires anywhere in the world," says Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and compiler of the list. "We already know of 189 US dollar billionaires in China this year, but you can safely say that we have missed at least half again, meaning there are between 400 and 500 USD billionaires."

An observation from the list is that the average age of the richest people is 51, compared to 34 during the 1990s. However, on average China's richest are still 15 years younger than their US and European counterparts.

Last year's number one Wang Chuanfu, has seen his wealth drop 10 per cent, placing him 12th on the list with US$4.6 billion.