Half of world’s richest women are Chinese

By Lu Nengneng: Yang Huiyan, 32, heiress to property developer Country Garden, has retaken the title of China’s richest woman from another property tycoon Wu Yajun, 49, this year, according to the Hurun List of Richest Women in China 2013 released today.
It has been five years since Yang ceded the top spot of the list compiled by Hurun Research Institute. Based on calculation made in August, Yang's wealth shot up 60 percent to 51 billion yuan (US$8.3 billion) from a year earlier when she ranked 11th after Country Garden, 58 percent owned by her family, reported a 20 percent increase in revenue and a 17.9 percent growth in profit last year.

Though Longfor Properties posted good financial report as well, Wu, the company’s co-founder, now ranking third, saw her wealth shrink 26 percent to 28 billion yuan as her divorced husband Cai Kui reportedly took over 20 billion yuan worth of assets from the company last November.
One out of four on the list of 50 richest women in China is involved in real estate business. And 18 percent of them are in the financial sector.
Also from the real estate sector is Chen Lihua, 72, of Fu Wah International, who ranks No. 2 on the list with 37 billion yuan of self-earned wealth.

According to Hurun, half of the richest women in the world with assets valued in excess of US$1 billion are from China, including three among the top five and six among the top ten.
Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Research Institute, said: "This generation of Chinese women entrepreneurs have not only earned themselves a high status in their country, but also secured an unshakable position on the global stage.”

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