Real estate, information technology and food processing are China's top three profit-making industries, indicated the annual Forbes list of China's richest people, published yesterday.

Rong Zhijian, chairman of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CITIC Pacific, which mainly engages in infrastructure construction and real estate sales, topped the list with a fortune of US$1.498 billion.

When most of the world is worried about overheated investment spending in China, entrepreneurs whose businesses are tied to consumers are enjoying some of the country's greatest new fortunes, said Russell Flannery, the magazine's Shanghai bureau chief.

Wang Guangyu, owner of the retail chain Gome Appliances, ranked second, and Chen Tianqiao, co-founder of the leading online game provider Shanda Interactive Entertainment, was third on the list.

"Though China is increasingly a key manufacturer in the world, less than half of the top 20 people on this year's list claim manufacturing as their primary business."

"In contrast, profits in consumer-related industries tend to be much healthier," Flannery said.

Flannery added another important trend indicated by the list is almost two-thirds of this year's 100 richest are major investors in a publicly traded company, up from just over 40 percent last year.

"Wealth in China has long been considered to be murky and hidden because of tax issues and a lack of legal protection. This is gradually changing as private companies tap capital markets at home and abroad to finance their growth," Flannery said.

For the first time, Forbes expanded its China list to 200 from 100 in previous years.

"The list illustrated wealth that was once relatively concentrated in southern China is now spreading throughout much of the country," said Jeff Zhou, editor of Forbes China.

He added there are some rich people coming from Central China's Henan and Shanxi Province and Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Among the 200 richest on the new list, Guangdong Province was home to 35, top among all areas. Shanghai and Beijing had 22 each, and Zhejiang Province had 20.

The threshold for this year's top 100 richest people was US$140 million, up from US$100 million last year.

The leading US business magazine, made its first list of China's richest in 1995, and began publishing one annually in 1999.

The lists have aroused controversies due to the rooted idea in China of "the rich are not kind."

The general public questions how much tax these top-earners pay, how they treat their employees and how they got their "first pot of gold" or initial capital. Meanwhile, many Chinese would not like to reveal their wealth to the public, which makes an inaccurate list possible.

However, some entrepreneurs have different views. Du Sha, chairman and CEO of the retailing group Home World, who ranked eighth on this year's list, said the list affirms the achievements of Chinese private entrepreneurs.

(China Daily November 5, 2004)