(File photo)

Rupert Hoogewerf, Founder and Publisher of Hurun Report Inc., speaks at a press conference for the release of the 2013 Hurun China Rich List in Beijing, China, 11 September 2013. [File Photo: ImagineChina]

This year's Hurun Global Rich List shows Beijing has replaced New York as the billionaire capital of the world.

Hurun noted that out of a record 2,188 billionaires in 68 countries and regions, China took-up 568 places on the list with a hundred of them based in the capital.

The addition of 90 wealthy Chinese to the list this year also means China overtook the US in the total number of ultra rich for the first time.

Leading the Chinese billionaires is Wang Jianlin, chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest real estate developer and the world's largest movie theater operator.

Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, is ranked 36th, with 21 billion US dollars.

Topping the list are Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and renowned investor Warren Buffett, with 80 billion and 68 billion US dollars, respectively.

The combined wealth of the billionaires' club expanded by 9 percent to 7.3 trillion US dollars, higher than the GDP of Germany and the UK put together.

China's richest individuals contributed 1.4 trillion US dollars of the total, close to the GDP of Australia.