Chinese Kung Fu actor Jet Li, followed by Jackie Chan, Jackie Cheung and many others, earned the most money in 2007 among China's entertainment elite, totaling some 465 million yuan (US$63.93 million), as listed by Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post on Wednesday.
It was the third year that the newspaper printed precise calculations covering stars' annual incomes based on their media coverage.
The 44-year-old actor starred in three films in 2007, "The Warlords", "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "The Mummy 3." His salary from "The Warlords" alone was 100 million yuan. - a sharp rise considering that he only received one yuan for his debut film "The Shaolin Temple" 27 years ago.
Movie star Jet Li speaks during a news conference for the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom," in Hengdian, eastern China's Zhejiang Province, June 14, 2007. (file photo)
Following him was another action star, Jackie Chan, with the total pool of about 428 million yuan.
Hong Kong pop king Jackie Cheung ranked first among the singers, thanks to his 2007 world tour show, which presented altogether 75 concerts.
Malaysia-born Chinese ethnic actress Michelle Yeoh was the richest female star of the past year, raking in an annual income of 80 million yuan. She occupied the seventh spot.
The Taiwan girl group S.H.E. were the only female singers on the list. They earned about 62.5 million yuan from their concerts, shows and TV commercials.
Top 10 highest earning stars in 2007:
| 1 Jet Li |
465 million yuan (US$63.93 million) |
| 2 Jackie Chan |
428 million yuan (US$58.85 million) |
| 3 Jackie Cheung |
340 million yuan (US$46.75 million) |
| 4 Tony Leung |
290 million yuan (US$39.87 million) |
| 5 Andy Lau |
230 million yuan (US$31.62 million) |
| 6 Chow Yun-Fat |
170 million yuan (US$23.37 million) |
| 7 Michelle Yeoh |
80 million yuan (US$11 million) |
| 8 Zhang Ziyi |
65 million yuan (US$8.93 million) |
| 9 S.H.E |
62.5 million yuan (US$8.59 million) |
| 10 Jay Chou |
60 million yuan (US$8.25 million) |
(CRI, China.org.cn January 3, 2008)
