(Yicai) Oct. 28 -- Zhong Shanshan, founder of Nongfu Spring, has reclaimed his title as China’s richest person for the fourth time, setting a new record for personal wealth among Chinese billionaires, according to the Hurun China Rich List released today.

Zhong, 71, saw his fortune rise by CNY190 billion (USD26.8 billion) over the past year to reach CNY530 billion, overtaking ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming. The strong performance of Nongfu Spring’s signature red-bottled mineral water and rising sales of newer brands such as Oriental Leaf tea helped boost the company’s growth. Zhong joins Alibaba founder Jack Ma as the only entrepreneur to have topped the Hurun ranking four times.

Zhang, 42, came second with CNY470 billion, up CNY120 billion from last year, driven by ByteDance’s advances in artificial intelligence that have lifted its valuation. ByteDance’s AI assistant Doubao had 157 million monthly active users as of August, making it China’s most-used AI assistant, according to QuestMobile. Tencent Holdings founder Pony Ma retained third place with a net worth of CNY465 billion after a CNY150 billion increase, supported by growth across Tencent’s gaming, advertising, and fintech businesses.

Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi, recorded the largest wealth gain among all listed entrepreneurs, with his fortune jumping CNY196 billion to move from 19th to fifth place, buoyed by Xiaomi’s booming automotive business and gains in the high-end smartphone segment. Jack Ma slipped to 11th place, though his wealth still grew by over CNY40 billion (USD5.6 billion).

A total of 1,434 individuals with personal fortunes exceeding CNY5 billion (USD700 million) made this year’s list, up 31 percent from 2024. Their combined wealth surged 42 percent to nearly CNY30 trillion. Among them, 1,198 saw their wealth rise, including 376 new entrants, while 276 saw flat or lower fortunes, and 38 dropped off the list. The average age of those on the list was 60, one year younger than last year.

Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said the number of entrepreneurs on the list has nearly reached a historical peak, driven by a sharp rebound in China’s stock markets -- with the Shanghai Composite Index, Shenzhen Component Index, and Hang Seng Index all up 40 percent to 50 percent year on year.

Hoogewerf added that the rise of new technology firms and a robust export market have also bolstered the ranks of China’s wealthy. He noted that the best-performing sectors over the past year included new energy vehicles, consumer electronics, new consumption, computing power, biomedicine, and securities services.

Editor: Emmi Laine