The rise of high-tech tycoons is the most significant feature of the 2003 Forbes China Rich List unveiled yesterday by the US finance magazine.

William Ding, Chief Executive Officer of NetEase.com Inc. topped a list of China's 100 richest people with a fortune of US$1.06 billion. [File Photo]

William Ding, founder and chief architect of the Chinese Internet company Netease.com Inc, topped the list with wealth of US$1.06 billion based on his holdings' market capitalization on October 13.

Ding, who owns 58.5 per cent in NASDAQ-listed Netease, has seen his stocks rise 20 times last year and almost fivefold this year.

"This year, particularly, we are seeing the development of a new type of Chinese businesses from high-tech sectors, especially the Internet industry," said Tim Ferguson, editor of Forbes Global.

He believes that with the launch of the third generation mobile communications system and the development of the high-tech industry in China, there will be more entrepreneurs from the sector in the Forbes China Rich List, published first in 1995.

Timothy Chan, boss of Shanghai Shanda Networking, ranked sixth with huge gains from online games contributing to his US$490 million.

Charles Zhang, chairman and chief executive officer of another NASDAQ-listed Chinese Internet business, Sohu.com Inc, was 20th on the Forbes list, which was compiled previously by contracted researchers, but this year by the magazine itself.

Russell Flannery, Forbes Global's Shanghai bureau chief, said that another trend reflected this year that more private business people sought overseas capital markets to raise funds.

Among the 100 richest people of China, 41 have overseas-listed subsidiaries, according to Flannery.

"This reflects that China and Chinese business people are more closely integrated with the international community," said Flannery.

"Although these entrepreneurs are still way behind their international counterparts, they will play a very important role in the future and have significant impact on the business activities in the world."

Larry Yung Chi-kin dropped to the second from first in 2002. [File Photo]

The Forbes list also indicates that most of the rich people are located in coastal areas of China, which are more economically affluent than inland regions.

Out of the 100 richest people, 16 are from Guangdong Province, 13 from Shanghai, 10 from East China's Zhejiang Province, and nine from Beijing.

Larry Yung Chi-kin and his family, of Hong Kong-based CITIC Pacific Group, dropped to second from first in 2002, mainly due to the sharp rise of Netease's stock prices.

Xu Rongmao, a real-estate tycoon in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Lu Guanqiu from auto parts and finance, and Liu Yonghao from animal feed, finance and real estate, followed Ding and Yung.

Ma Huateng, head of Shenzhen-based instant messaging service provider Tencent.com, and Zhang Kaiyong of Zhongkezhi Group in the finance sector, ranked the 99th with US$100 million each.

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