The richest man in China is property tycoon Wang Jianlin with a personal fortune doubling to $22 billion, surpassing last year’s top-ranked Zong Qinghou, despite Zong’s wealth growing 50 per cent, according to the Hurun Report’s annual listing of the richest people in the Asian giant.

The survey highlights how real estate continues to be big driver of wealth: a quarter of all the top 1,000 richest people make their money from bricks and mortar. This raises the potential spectre of what might happen if there is a sharp fall in property prices. The data, more broadly, however, shows why the region affected by China’s growth continues to be a strong expansion area for wealth managers.

The report said the number of dollar billionaires is up by 64 to 315 individuals this year. A decade ago there were no such people, reflecting the astonishing ascent of China and also, perhaps more controversially, highlighting the inequalities that such rapid growth can give rise to.

There are three new faces in top five group, led by Pony Ma of Tencent at third, vehicle maker Wei Jianjun, at fourth and old real estate developer Yang Huiyan.

The report said some 559 of the Top 1,000 richest persons saw their wealth grow, with 144 growing faster than 50 per cent, mainly due to a 60 per cent hike China’s ChiNext exchange, the exchange for high growth start-ups.  252 saw their wealth shrink, the report said.

There were 115 new faces, the lowest number in the last decade, mainly because of the lack of new listings, the report said.

One in four people made their money in real estate, which overtook manufacturing to become the key source of wealth for the Hurun Rich List.