China overtakes US in number of billionaires

China now has more billionaires than the United States, according to the latest Hurun Rich List, with Wang Jianlin, the real estate mogul, overtaking Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder, as the wealthiest person in the mainland.

According to the numbers released by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute, China added 242 more billionaires this year, taking the total tally to 596. The number of billionaires in the US was 537.

Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, which tracks wealthy people, said that the surge in the Chinese stock market earlier this year has helped in the growth of Chinese billionaires. This year also saw an unprecedented growth in the wealth of China's richest, despite the country's economic slowdown.