The booming wealth of China’s new breed of entrepreneurs has been underlined by the latest Forbes China Rich List, with one quarter of the p...

The booming wealth of China’s new breed of entrepreneurs has been underlined by the latest Forbes China Rich List, with one quarter of the people on the 40-strong list under 40 years of age. A 37-year old appliance retailer, Wong Kwong-yu, topped the list after Forbes said his wealth expanded to $2.3 billion, driven by the demand for white goods from the affluent Chinese middle class. Mr Wong, the founder of GoMe Appliances, saw his wealth almost double over the past year. GoMe now comprises a chain of 188 retail outlets and superstores across the country. Publication of the list has also come with a warning, with Forbes noting that number 16 on its 2005 list, Shanghai developer Zhang Rongkun, was dropped after his arrest in a corruption investigation which saw his company’s share price plummet. Number one ranked Mr Wong has also reportedly come to the attention of the authorities, with Chinese finance magazine Caijing reporting this week that police and regulators had opened a “massive investigation” into his business dealings. “It’s the Wild West. China adopted the market-economy about 20 years ago and during the transition there was no clear law to follow,” said Jeff Zhou, editor of Forbes China, in Beijing. According to Forbes, the combined wealth of China’s 40 richest people jumped by 46 per cent in 2006 to $38 billion, helped by a number of successful initial public offerings of Chinese companies. Forbes said that the average age of people on its China’s list was 46.5 years, compared with 65.7 years for the US list. Average Chinese fortunes were smaller, however, averaging $950 million for the top 40 compared with $13.2 billion in the US. Number two on the list was property developer Xu Rongnao, with a $2.1 billion fortune followed by last year’s number one, Larry Yung, chairman of conglomerate Citic Pacific with $2 billion. Among the new entrants was Zhong Sheng Jian, whose Yanlord Land Group listed in Singapore this year.