U.S. business magazine Forbes has released its annual list of China’s Top 100 most luminous celebrities based on their income and appearances in magazines, newspapers, TV shows and online. Mainland actress, Fan Bingbing, tops the list with an annual income of about 110 million yuan (US$17.63 million). The list, which was released on Forbes’ Chinese-language website, ranks the most influential entertainment and sports celebrities from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

    Taiwanese singer Jay Chou comes in second, while Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Lau ranks the third.

    Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan is listed in the 16th slot — the first time that he appears in the list.

    Sun Li, the lead actress in the popular TV drama, “Legend of Zhen Huan,” jumps to the 22nd place this year following the huge success of the drama. She was listed 96th last year.

    The country’s movie industry made a profit of 17.073 billion yuan last year, increasing by 30.18 percent from the previous year. Due to their popular movies, director Ang Lee — who most recently directed “Life of Pi” — and the three main actors of “Lost in Thailand” — Huang Bo, Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang — are all on the list. “Lost in Thailand” made 1.26 billion yuan in 2012.

    The earnings of movie stars have remained stable for several years, while the earnings of TV actors and actresses have increased steadily, and several of the latter — including Ma Su, Chen Shu, Tong Liya and Du Chun — have gained a place on the list for the first time due to the popularity of their shows.

    Though most of those who made the list are actors and singers, four athletes make an appearance, including the runner-up of the Australian Open, Li Na (ranked 11th), Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang (31st), badminton champion Lin Dan (42nd) and Liu Xiang (44th). As popular NBA star Yao Ming retired from basketball and started his own business, he no longer appears on this list.

    The total income of the 100 celebrities is estimated at 3.82 billion yuan with an average income of 38.23 million yuan per person, decreasing by 11.4 percent compared to last year.

    The annual income threshold was raised to 1.53 million yuan this year, up 41.7 percent, and the income earned refers to the period between March 1, 2012 and Feb. 28, 2013.

    (Wang Yuanyuan)