Wang Jianlin takes 'rich' crown again

Wang Jianlin, chairman and president of Dalian Wanda Group, attends the Hong Kong Asian Financial Forum (AFF) in Hong Kong, China, on Monday, Jan 18, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, has retained his crown again as the richest man in China, with a fortune of 215 billion yuan ($32 billion), according the Hurun Rich List 2016 released Thursday.

The billionaire Chinese property tycoon has taken the top spot three times, although this year his wealth fell 2 percent compared with a year ago.

Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, saw his wealth rise 41 percent to 205 billion yuan, ranking second.

Tencent Holdings Ltd founder Pony Ma Huateng moved up one spot to No 3, with a fortune of 165 billion yuan, up 38 percent year on year, despite donating 13.9 billion yuan last year.

This year's dark horse, financial conglomerate Baoneng's chairman Yao Zhenhua's wealth saw a nine-fold increase to 115 billion yuan, moving up 200 places to No 4 in the ranking.

Four new names made it to the top 10 list for the first time: Baoneng's chairman Yao Zhenhua, online gaming and news portal NetEase's founder and CEO Ding Lei, Evergrande Real Estate's chairman Xu Jiayin and household appliances company Midea Group's founder He Xiangjian and his son He Jianfeng.

Lei Jun, founder and CEO of China's mobile company Xiaomi, dropped out of top 10 to 14th place.

"Despite a 20 percent drop in the domestic stock markets and a slowdown in the economy, the Hurun Rich List swelled by 179 to 2,056 individuals, double that of three years ago and up 10-fold from 10 years ago," said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher.

Hurun has released this ranking for the 18th consecutive year since 1999, while the threshold was 2 billion yuan for the fourth straight year.