New entrepreneurs on Hurun China Rich List 2024 mainly from high-tech sector

An automatic picking robot is displayed at the 31st China Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Fair in Yangling, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Oct. 25, 2024. Featuring innovations in agricultural high-tech achievements, the 31st China Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Fair kicked off here on Friday. The fair will last until Oct. 29. (Photo: Xinhua)

New entrepreneurs on the Hurun China Rich List 2024 are mainly from the high-tech sector, especially from new energy, with others representing fields such as consumer electronics, e-commerce, and biotechnology, according to the report sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

CEOs in the new-energy sector, including those from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co, BYD, and Geely, have seen their wealth surge in recent years.

A similar trend is visible across other high-tech industries, with CEOs from DJI, Xiaomi, Luxshare Precision, Oppo, and Vivo witnessing substantial increases in their fortunes.

"This phenomenon combines a favorable national development environment with the strengths of private enterprises," Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, told the Global Times on Tuesday. He noted that the swift rise of high-tech firms has optimized China's economic structure, adding vitality, resilience, and global competitiveness.

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, 41, has become China's richest person for the first time, with a fortune reaching 350 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) - a rise of 105 billion yuan from the previous year.

ByteDance's global revenue surpassed 850 billion yuan last year, a 30 percent year-on-year increase. Despite ongoing ban threats from the US, TikTok's revenue in the US reached a record 110 billion yuan in 2023, with 170 million Americans using the app throughout the year, according to the list.

"Accelerating shifts in global supply chains have further propelled China's push for technological self-reliance, creating a favorable environment for high-tech firms to grow and thrive, with their numbers and development pace steadily rising," Bian said.

Bian noted that the Chinese government has significantly increased its support for private enterprises in recent years, particularly small and micro-sized firms, creating a fairer and more equitable environment for their growth.

Many individuals on the rich list are private-sector entrepreneurs, primarily from high-tech industries, and this substantial increase in representation is closely tied to China's current development stage, strategic priorities, and supportive policies, Bian said.