China has 106 billionaires

SHANGHAI—China now has 106 billionaires, seven times as many as last year, according to a list published Wednesday that underlined the rapidly growing economic muscle of the Asian giant. Yang Huiyan, a 26-year-old female property developer, topped the list with a net worth of 130 billion yuan (17.3 billion dollars), according to the Hurun rich list compiled by Shanghai-based accountant Rupert Hoogewerf. The figure was up from just 15 billionaires in the 2006 list, a surge attributed in the report to sizzling economic growth, and in particular a steep rise in stock and property prices. “We all know that China is developing very rapidly. But the speed is so fast that it shocked all of us. It’s much faster than the US and Europe,” said Hoogewerf in a statement released with the list.—Agencies