(Yicai Global) Nov. 17 -- Shares of Chinese bottled water giant Nongfu Spring hit another historic high for the second day in a row today, helping the founder surpass Jack Ma as China's richest man.

Nongfu Spring's stock price [HK:9633] surged 8.5 percent to HKD44.70 (USD5.77) this morning, boosting its market value to over HKD500 billion (USD64.5 billion). The value of its equity has more than doubled in a bit more than two months.

Chairman Zhong Shanshan, who holds more than 84 percent of the water company's shares, increased his fortune by USD7.1 billion to USD63.9 billion over the past two days, becoming the world's 17th richest man, according to Forbes's Real-Time Billionaires ranking. Meanwhile, Alibaba founder Jack Ma has a wealth of USD60.8 billion.

Nongfu Spring got listed on Sept. 8 and after two weeks, it was included in the Hong Kong Stock Connect program to allow mainland investors to purchase shares.

Editor: Emmi Laine