China's Billionaires Rebound: Wealth Surges by 16%

For the first time in four years, the combined fortune of China's top billionaires has seen a significant growth, increasing by 16% since January to reach US$809.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Key Gainers

Among the notable gainers are Pony Ma, chairman of tech giant Tencent, whose net worth rose by more than a third to $47.9 billion, and Lei Jun, founder of smartphone brand Xiaomi, whose fortune grew by $12.8 billion.

Chen Tianshi, chairman of AI processor maker Cambricon Technologies, and Wang Ning, founder of designer toy producer Pop Mart, both saw their fortunes triple this year.

Wealth Shifts and Turbulence

The year has been marked by significant shifts among China's wealthiest individuals, with the title of the country's richest person changing hands multiple times, according to the Hurun China Rich List 2024.

Colin Huang, founder of e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, briefly took the top spot from bottled water tycoon Zhong Shanshan but quickly lost it to Zhang Yiming, the billionaire behind TikTok's parent company ByteDance.