Record number of billionaires in China

The Hurun Institute, a Chinese research group, released an annual list showing 1,529 people in China with at least 5 billion yuan, which is about 675 million euros. This is more than the previous record of 1,460 set in 2021.

AI entrepreneur enters top seven

Liang Wenfeng, who created DeepSeek, a company focused on artificial intelligence, is ranked seventh in the list with a fortune of about 41.7 billion dollars, or 37.5 billion euros. He is one of 263 new billionaires added this year.

New wealth comes from tech and innovation

Most of the newcomers to the list come from industries like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and robotics. According to Rupert Hoogewerf, the main researcher at Hurun, this shows a "two-speed economy" in China, where tech wealth is growing fast while traditional wealth is shrinking.

Tech-focused billionaires dominate top 100

Sixty percent of the top 100 richest people in the list made their money in sectors that the Chinese government has focused on since 2015. These sectors are part of a long-term plan to strengthen China's technological leadership.

ByteDance founder returns as richest person

Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, which owns TikTok and Douyin, has regained the top spot in China's richest people list. His estimated fortune is 99.7 billion dollars, or nearly 90 billion euros, a record for this ranking.

ByteDance faces challenges but remains strong

Despite global regulatory challenges, ByteDance's AI chatbot, Doubao, has nearly 420 million monthly active users, which is much higher than the user numbers of its domestic competitors.

Top 10 includes major tech leaders

Other top names in the list include Robin Zeng of CATL, a battery maker for electric vehicles, Pony Ma of Tencent, and William Ding of NetEase. Chen Tianshi of Cambricon, a company making electronic chips for artificial intelligence, is also in the top 10.

China's richest woman retains top spot

In a separate list for China's richest women, Zhou Qunfang, founder of Lens Technology, a company that makes touchscreens, stays in first place with nearly 17 billion euros.