Wang Jianlin now richest man in China

BEIJING - Real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin is the richest man in China with a personal fortune of 135 billion yuan ($22 billion), according to the Hurun Rich List released Wednesday in Beijing.

Wang, 59, founder of property developer Dalian Wanda Group, surpassed last year's number one Zong Qinghou, chairman of China's leading beverage company Wahaha Group, despite Zong's wealth growing 44 percent.

Wang, who made his name with shopping malls, has been quietly growing Wanda into one of the biggest landlords in the world, with a prospective 17 million square meters under management by the end of 2013.

Zong was ranked second in the list with a fortune of 115 billion yuan.

There are three new faces in top 5, led by 42-year old Pony Ma of Internet giant Tencent at third with wealth of 62 billion yuan, vehicle maker Wei Jianjun, 49, fourth with 51.5 billion yuan and 32-year-old real estate developer Yang Huiyan with 51 billion yuan.

Some 23.5 percent of the 1,000 Chinese entrepreneurs on the list make their money in real estate.

The threshold of the list is two billion yuan, nearly three times that of 2008.

The average age of the billionaires on the list is 52 with an average wealth of 6.4 billion yuan, up 18.5 percent year on year.

Established as a research unit in 1999 by British accountant Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Inc has grown into a leading luxury publishing group based in Shanghai.

It has four luxury magazines, the Hurun Research Institute and a business events division targeting China's entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals.