CHEN LIHUA, 75, founder of Fu Wah International Group, a company engaged in real estate development, has become China’s richest woman with a net worth totaling 50.5 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion), according to the report Richest Women in China 2016 released by Hurun Research Institution on Tuesday.

    Chen is followed by Yang Huiyan, the 35-year-old heiress to Country Garden, a property development company based in Guangdong Province. Yang is worth 48.5 billion yuan.

    Zhou Qunfei from Lens Technology, the major touchscreen maker, ranks third on the list with a net worth of 45 billion yuan, shrinking by 10 percent, the Qianjiang Evening News reported.

    According to Hurun, only women with a net worth exceeding 8 billion yuan are eligible to be selected as one of the top 50 richest women in China. Further, 32 out of the 50 newly selected female billionaires started their businesses from scratch.

    Among the top 50 richest women in the world, Chinese female entrepreneurs account for 56 percent. Further, 23 percent of wealthy Chinese women work in real estate, a decline of 2 percent year-on-year; 18 percent of them are involved in finance and investment, followed by manufacturing accounting for 14 percent, as the Qianjiang Evening News reported.

    Beijing and Shenzhen are the two most popular cities to live in by those Chinese female entrepreneurs, with 12 of the richest women on the list living in Beijing and nine in Shenzhen, respectively. Shanghai is the third most popular city, home to five of the women that made the list. Only two live outside of the Chinese mainland, one in Hong Kong, and the other in the United States.(CRI)