THE average wealth of the Chinese mainland's top 1,000 richest people jumped 26 percent to US$722 million this year from a year earlier despite the sluggish stock market and the tightening measures meant to cool the sizzling economy, according to the latest Hurun Rich List.

In comparison, the average of the 1,000 wealthiest people in the United Kingdom is US$536 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2010.

Yao Ming, the 29-year-old Houston Rockets center from Shanghai, is the youngest self-made individual with 1 billion yuan.

Beijing has overtaken Shanghai as the home of the largest number of wealthiest individuals. Beijing claims 124 of the tycoons; Shanghai, 109.

A total of 1,363 individuals have fortunes of more than 1 billion yuan (US$150 million), up from 1,000 last year. Ten years ago, there were only 24.

Wahaha's Zong Qinghou, 65, touted as "Drinks King," is the richest man with a personal fortune of US$12 billion.

Last year's number one, Wang Chuanfu, 44, has slipped to 12th place with US$4.6 billion after seeing his wealth drop 10 percent.

Although property is still the biggest wealthcreator in China, the sector's percentage has been steadily decreasing.

On average, property stocks fell this year by a quarter amid the government's efforts to curb property speculation.

Property developers accounted for 20.1 percent of China's billionaires, down 3.3 percent compared with last year's list. Ten years ago, the figure was 50 percent.

"Not only is 2010 the first time in 10 years that a property tycoon has not made the top five," said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and compiler of the Hurun Rich List, "but it is also the first year that a construction-equipment manufacturer has made more than any property tycoon.

"It is the modern equivalent of the California gold rush, when selling shovels to the gold miners was the guarantee of success."

However, property remains the biggest wealthcreator. China's property tycoons are far and away richer than tycoons from any other industry.

The average wealth of the top 10 richest property developers is more than double that of the next richest industries of retail and IT, the Hurun Report said.

A total of 153 women made the billion-yuan club - 11 percent of the entire 1,363. Chinese women now make up 11 of the 20 richest self-made women in the world. "China is the world's clear leader for women in business," said Hoogewerf.

"There is no other country that comes even close to touching the number of self-made women in China. This is a story that deserves much more attention," he said.

The list also revealed the growing political influence of China's wealthy:

Twelve percent of the rich list names - 173 individuals - have been appointed to significant government advisory posts.

Eighty names are delegates to the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top advisory body, compared with 71 last year.

The National People's Congress, the legislature, had 83 delegates on the list, compared with 76 last year.

"China's richest are looking to win official political status. They are growing in confidence, based on employing ever-more staff and paying ever-higher taxes," said Hoogewerf.

The list does not include people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• comparison [kəm´pærisən] n.比较；对照；比喻 (初中英语单词)
• percentage [pə´sentidʒ] n.百分数；比例；部分 (初中英语单词)
• steadily [´stedili] ad.坚定地；不断地 (初中英语单词)
• manufacturer [,mænju´fæktʃərə] n.制造人；工厂主 (初中英语单词)
• california [,kæli´fɔ:njə] n.加利福尼亚 (初中英语单词)
• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
• houston [´hju:stən] n.休斯顿 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
• speculation [,spekju´leiʃən] n.思索，推测；投机 (高中英语单词)
• founder [´faundə] n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
• equivalent [i´kwivələnt] a.相等的 n.同等物 (高中英语单词)
• guarantee [,gærən´ti:] n.保证；担保 vt.允诺 (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
• creator [kri:´eitə] n.创造者；设立者 (英语四级单词)
• retail [´ri:teil, ri´teil] n.&a.&v.零售(商品的) (英语四级单词)
• touching [´tʌtʃiŋ] a.动人的 prep.提到 (英语四级单词)
• legislature [´ledʒisleitʃə] n.立法机关 (英语四级单词)
• status [´steitəs] n.身份；情形；状况 (英语四级单词)
• sluggish [´slʌgiʃ] a.呆滞的；偷懒的 (英语六级单词)