Mainland billionaires keep the wealth stakes ticking in 2018

Despite the stock market slump and economic uncertainties, China is still home to the largest number of dollar billionaires and contributed the most new faces to the Hurun Global Rich List unveiled on Tuesday.

A total of 658 Chinese billionaires made it onto the global rich list this year, dislodging the United States which saw 584 of its billionaires entering the list. The combined wealth of the Chinese billionaires came to $2 trillion, which was equal to 2.5 percent of the world's GDP last year.

Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, was recorded as the richest Chinese person with personal wealth of $39 billion. China's other technology behemoth Tencent saw its chief executive officer Pony Ma became the second wealthiest in the country, with his net worth amounting to $38 billion. Xu Jiayin, chairman of the Shenzhen-based property developer Evergrande, assumed the third spot in China this year, down from his position as the richest Chinese person in 2017.