Forbes to enlarge China's richest list
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-09-23 10:33

Forbes China Richest List will expand to a 400-name list next year, to better reflect the booming private sector in the Chinese mainland, said Steve Forbes Wednesday in Hong Kong.

The annual released list, identifying new movers and shakers of the mainland's private economy, offers a window for outsiders, especially westerners to feel the economic vitality of the Chinese mainland.

"More and more Chinese people, especially the private entrepreneurs are getting richer thanks to the economic development", said Steve Forbes, chief executive of the publishing group that bears his name. He said a 400 richest list will offer others a better understanding of the latest development of mainland's private sector.

According to him, this year's list scheduled to release later next month will include more than 100 names.

"Entrepreneurs elsewhere would envy their Chinese counterparts" because the later enjoy much more business opportunities, said Steve Forbes. He added that Forbes is an example of a foreign company that has benefited from the mainland's rapid economic growth.

In addition to the international edition in English, Forbes have gone into local language markets in Japan, Brazil, and last year South Korea and China. It also launched Hebrew, Russian and Arabic editions this year.

"Besides the English one, I believe the Chinese edition is most potential and promising," he said. And "in long term, the advertising income of Chinese edition will eventually exceed that of English edition."

He is not overoptimistic. In 18 months since its launch, the circulation of Forbes China has already amounted to 100,000 and the advertising income is now quite "satisfying." He believed the balance point of this edition was foreseeable.

According to him, as a world leading business magazine, Forbes feels it is its responsibility to bring the world business community closer to the emerging market and to share experience as well as exchanging business ideas. The annual Forbes Global CEO conference was held twice in Hong Kong and once in Shanghai for the latest three consecutive years.

Though next year the conference will move to Sydney, "no doubt we will move back to China in 2006," he said. And he added that no one could resist the temptation from this land.

Through the Face and Comment columns that he writes in the biweekly magazine, Steve Forbes won the fame as an economic prognosticator in the United States. When talking about the current economic trend in the Chinese mainland, he suggested China not to revaluate its currency. "Rule of law, property rights protection, further moving barriers for foreigners to set up business" were the key points that he believed to help the mainland's economy achieve steady economic growth.

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