Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, October 31, 2003
Internet mogul tops Forbes List of China Rich
Ding Lei (William Ding), founder of Beijing-based Netease, secured his position at the top of the "Forbes List of China Rich" published Thursday in Beijing. He holds 58.5% of Netease stock which is equivalent to RMB7.6b (US$1.076b) in terms of market capitalization.
The "Forbes List of China Rich" was published Thursday in Beijing. Ding Lei(William Ding), founder of Beijing-based Netease, an IT player, secured his position at the top of the list. He holds 58.5% of Netease stock which is equivalent to RMB7.6b(US$1.076b) in terms of market capitalization.
The second to the tenth place in the top ten are taken by Rong Zhijian(with his family), Xu Rongmao, Lu Guanqiu, Liu Yonghao, Chen Tianqiao, Liu Yongxing, Ye Lipei(with his family), Guo Guangchang, and Chen Lihua respectively.
Their business operations rang from IT, real estate, finance, car parts and infrastructure to pharmacy, retailing, aluminum, feedstuff and even museum. Half of them are based in Shanghai and two in Hong Kong. Sichuan in China's southwest and Zhejiang in the east respectively house one.
Altogether 100 big names are on the "2003 Forbes List of China Rich". They are supposed to be the richest in the mainland.
Forbes' annual release of its Chinese rich list began in 1999. The criterion it uses to choose the names has aroused controversy in China.
"With this year's list, we're seeing the development of a new kind of wealth in China, the high-value technology sector including the Internet," Tim Ferguson, the New York-based editor of Forbes Global, told a news conference on Thursday.
Just as technology was having an impact, so were the norms of international business as more Chinese successful companies looked to regulated financial markets for growth, Forbes executives said.
As learned this year's Chinese rich list includes 35 new comers compared with that of the last year.
It is also learned that Forbes China will offer its "Chinese Celebrities List" annually from 2004 and the first issue is expected to debut in February in 2004. The selecting process of its "Chinese Celebrities List" will perfectly be line with existing methodology and system applied on its Forbes Global Celebrities List. Eligible candidates are China-born citizens who in the previous year score glittering success in the fields of entertainment, sport, culture and media and exert great influence on the society.