Alibaba’s Jack Ma remains richest person in China

阿里巴巴馬雲仍然是中國首富

Forbes releases 'China's Richest 2019' with Jack Ma retaining top slot, Pony Ma coming in second

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — According to Forbes' "China's Richest 2019" report released Thursday (Nov. 7), Jack Ma (馬雲), the founder and former CEO of the world's biggest e-commerce company, Alibaba, remains the wealthiest person in China.

A total of 400 Chinese were selected by Forbes, and the top three remain the same as in 2018, with Jack Ma in first place, Tencent founder Pony Ma (馬化騰) in second, and China Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan (許家印) in third. The value of Jack Ma's assets has increased from RMB$238 billion (US$34 billion) last year to RMB$270 billion this year, reported CNYes News.

Due to the impact of the U.S.-China tariff war, China's GDP growth has hit its lowest point in 27 years, but to billionaire businesspeople in China, the positives still outweigh the negatives. The 400 wealthiest Chinese have seen their net worth grow by an average of 25 percent since 2018.

With the threshold set at RMB$1 billion, 60 of China's most affluent appeared on the list for the first time. It is also worth noting that the total net worth of Robin Li (李彥宏), CEO of Chinese technology company Baidu, has decreased from RMB$100 billion to RMB$53 billion over a span of a year.

Top 10 richest people in China. (Forbes screenshot)