(Yicai) Oct. 28 -- Zhou Qunfei, who founded precision components maker Lens Technology, has reclaimed the title of China’s richest woman, according to the annual Hurun Richest Women in China report, reflecting the growing role of electronics manufacturing and artificial intelligence-related hardware in creating wealth among Chinese entrepreneurs.

Zhou’s fortune has increased by CNY17 billion (USD2.6 billion), or 15 percent, from last year to CNY127 billion (USD19.1 billion), according to the latest rankings compiled and released yesterday by the Hurun Research Institute. She was previously named China’s richest woman 11 years ago and was second on the list last year.

Moving down from first to second this year was Zhong Huijuan, founder of drugmaker Hansoh Pharma, who saw her personal wealth drop by CNY17 billion, or 12 percent, marking the steepest decline among China’s women billionaires.

Kwong Siu Hing, the 97-year-old main shareholder of real estate developer Sun Hung Kai, ranked third after her fortune rose 16 percent to CNY96 billion, up two places from last year.

The combined wealth of the top 50 female entrepreneurs in China hit a record high of CNY1.93 trillion (USD289.48 billion) this year, according to the report. The average per person was CNY38.6 billion, also a new record, while the threshold for inclusion rose to CNY16.5 billion.

Two women had fortunes exceeding CNY100 billion, though this still trails male entrepreneurs, 39 of whom made the cut this year.

More than 70 percent of the listed women did not rank among the top 50 a decade ago, reflecting a shift in wealth creation toward contract manufacturing and life sciences, which are increasingly globalized businesses.

Wang Laichun’s Luxshare Precision Industry, a leading components makers, had overseas revenue in excess of CNY280 billion (USD42 billion) last year, while for Lens Technology it exceeded CNY40 billion. Zeng Fangqin’s Lingyi iTech, another components company, had income from overseas of more than CNY37 billion.

These three companies combined employ more than 650,000 people worldwide, said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief research officer at the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute.

Luxshare is mainly in precision manufacturing, with its core businesses being connectors and modules for autos, communication, and other sectors. Lingyi iTech makes AI hardware, and is a key supplier for US tech giant Apple.

Two thirds of the listed women built their businesses from scratch, starting their at the average age of 32 and are now mostly around 59 years old, with an mean wealth of CNY36 billion.

The youngest to start her own business is 40-year-old He Yi, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, with personal wealth of CNY18.5 billion. Another of the youngest is Qu Fang, the 41-year-old founder of social media platform RedNote, known as Xiaohongshu in China, with CNY34 billion. Both of them were born in the late 1980s.

One-third of the women inherited their wealth, taking over businesses at an average age of 40. They are now 61 years old on average and have average fortunes of CNY40.7 billion, according to the report.

Editor: Tom Litting