According to Forbes, China is the second largest country in the world, with about 450 billionaires. Among them, the 5 richest billionaires are: Zhong Shanshan, Zhang Yiming, Ma Huateng, Robin Zeng, Lei Jun.
1. Billionaire Zhong Shanshan
The list of world billionaires updated by Forbes on January 17, 2026, Mr. Zhong Shanshan - Founder of Nongfu Spring, owns assets worth 72.8 billion USD.
Currently, Mr. Zhong Shanshan is ranked 25th in the ranking of the richest people in the world, according to Forbes.
Billionaire Zhong Shanshan, the richest person in China to date.
2. Billionaire Zhang Yiming
Chinese billionaire - he owns assets worth 69.3 billion USD. Currently, billionaire Zhang Yiming is ranked 26th in the ranking of the richest people in the world today.
Zhang Yiming is the main founder of ByteDance - a Chinese technology group behind TikTok with more than 1 billion global users. In addition to TikTok, ByteDance also operates in the fields of e-commerce, education, games and media.
In 2021, Mr. Zhang left his position as CEO and then Chairman of ByteDance, believed to be under pressure from the Chinese government. ByteDance was founded in 2012 in an apartment in Beijing, the beginning of a technology "giant" today.
3. Billionaire Ma Huateng
Billionaire Ma Huateng owns assets worth 63.3 billion USD. Currently, Mr. Ma Huateng is ranked 28th on the list of the richest people on the planet.
Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) is Chairman and CEO of Tencent - China's leading internet corporation, owning the WeChat application with more than 1.4 billion monthly users.
Tencent is also a global "giant" in the game industry with titles such as Honor of Kings and shares in Epic Games. Before founding Tencent in 1998, Mr. Ma worked in research on internet messaging systems at China Motion Telecom Development.
4. Billionaire Robin Zeng
Billionaire Robin Zeng owns assets worth 53.9 billion USD. He is ranked 32nd in the world's richest people rankings.
Robin Zeng is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) - one of the world's largest electric vehicle battery suppliers.
CATL supplies batteries to many major automakers such as BMW, Geely and Tesla, and has partnered with Ford to build a battery factory in Michigan since 2023. CATL's headquarters are located in Ningdu, Fujian province - Mr. Zeng's hometown.
5. Billionaire Lei Jun
Billionaire Lei Jun owns assets worth 29.9 billion USD. He is ranked 74th in the Forbes list of the richest people, according to Forbes updates.
Lei Jun is the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi - one of the most popular smartphone brands in the world listed in Hong Kong (China).
Besides phones, Xiaomi is expanding to the high-end segment and electric vehicle market with two models SU7 sedan and YU7 SUV. In addition, Mr. Lei is also Chairman of Kingsoft and once invested in the JOYY live streaming platform (formerly YY.com).
