China’s very rich grew a little poorer this year. But their ranks swelled, as the world’s fastest growing major economy offered more opportunities for entrepreneurs to make a fortune.

Back in number one spot with wealth of 6.3 billion US dollars is 39-year-old Huang Guangyu, popularly dubbed the Price Butcher, who heads one of China’s biggest electronics retailers as well as a growing property empire.

The riches of the top 1,000 fell by 22 percent to 439 million dollars from 562 million dollars last year and the number of billionaires dropped by five to 101.

Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the Hurun Rich List, told The Times: “I was quite surprised. We expected with the credit crunch that there would be a lot fewer. One thing that came out is that a lot of entrepreneurs in one major industry are now diversifying.”

However, this year the wealth of the top three totalled 16.3 dollars - less than half the 35 billion dollars last year amid falls in stocks and property prices.

Mr Hoogewerf saw room for their fortunes to grow in a country that has recorded double-digit growth for around a decade. “The Chinese economy has not grown insubstantially. There were only 50 on my first list 10 years ago and now there are 1,000 – the same as on the Sunday Times rich list.”

He said: “China’s property tycoons and stock market investors have had a bloody nose… The next step for China’s entrepreneurs is to build sustainable business models that can survive a slowdown in the market.”

China’s super-rich are holding up much better than their counterparts in the West, however.

A second steel magnate vaulted into the top 10 along with two “green technology” businessmen as international demand for their environmentally friendly solar products has soared.

In second place was Du Shuanghua, 43, owner of Rizhao Steel in eastern China's Shandong province, one of the largest private-sector steel mills in the country.

Pushed down to third place was 27-year-old property heiress Yang Huiyan whose estimated fortune shrunk to 4.9 billion dollars from the 17.5 billion that put her in the top slot last year. The market value of her stake in property developer Country Garden Holdings Co, founded by her father, plunged.

She was one of several billionaires whose fortunes have been based on almost insatiable desire among China’s swelling new-rich to own their own homes. While that demand remains strong, a credit squeeze has slowed expansion. Another real estate mogul to suffer was Xu Rongmao, owner of Shimao Property Holdings Ltd, who sank to number nine from third place with his wealth dwindling to 3.1 billion dollars from 7.5 billion.

One new entrant among China’s 1,000 super-rich was basketball superstar Yao Ming, ranked 987 and the youngest self-made millionaire on the list thanks to his NBA sponsorship deals with the likes of Coca-Cola and China Life Insurance.

For first-ranked Mr Huang, he was back in a position he held in 2004 and 2005. A high school dropout, he started building his fortune when he was 16 by selling watches and radios from a roadside stall in Beijing. His Hong Kong-listed Gome Group is now China’s largest consumer electronics chain with 828 stores in nearly 200 cities.

Mr Hoogewerf said: “In my book he is a very strategically-aware entrepreneur.”

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