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GETTY IMAGES

The richest person is China is a bottled water tycoon, knocking Alibaba

founder Jack Ma from his mantle.

Zhong Shanshan founded Nongfu Spring in 1996 in the Zhejiang province on

China's Eastern coast.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index now puts Mr Shanshan in top spot with wealth of
$58.7bn (£46.2bn).

The recent stock market listing of his bottled water firm and a controlling stake in a
vaccine maker have helped boost his fortunes.

Nicknamed the "Lone Wolf", Mr Zhong is now Asia's second-richest person behind
India's Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire behind Reliance Industries.

China's mighty Ant heads for a mega market debut

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Yum China's HK listing is the latest 'homecoming'

Mr Zhong now ranks 17th overall on its list of the world's top 500 richest people.
Features
Most of China's new billionaires come from the tech industry. But rising tensions
between China and the US over Huawei, TikTok and WeChat have pushed down
valuations of Chinese tech stocks.

China's food and grocery sector is now vying with its tech industry in producing the
country's richest business people.

In April, Mr Zhong's Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise listed on the

Chinese stock market. His controlling stake in the firm saw his overall wealth jump The woman taking on trolls on
as much as $20bn by August. their own turf

The pharma company says it has partnered with two universities to develop a
candidate vaccine to fight Covid-19.


The man who filmed his ordeal
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Singapore in world first for facial

GETTY IMAGES verification
Zhong Shanshan founded Nongfu Spring in 1996

Red caps
Nongfu Spring shares jumped 54% on the first day of trading earlier this month
when they were listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. 
How to fight face mask breakouts
Nongfu Spring's red-capped bottles are sold nationwide from small stores to high-
or 'maskne'
end hotels. The company also sells teas, flavoured vitamin drinks and juices.

The successful stock market listing propelled Mr Zhong into China's top three
richest people alongside Alibaba's Mr Ma and Tencent boss Pony Ma.

But this week's downturn for tech stocks saw the Chinese tycoon move up the
wealth rankings.

Mr Zhong may not stay ahead of Mr Ma, who has held the top spot for the past six
years, for long. Striking news pictures from
around the world
Alibaba-backed Ant Group is due to list on Chinese and Hong Kong stock
exchanges next month, which will boost the tech boss's wealth even further.

The online payments firm could net Mr Ma an estimated $28bn if the company
achieves the $250bn valuation it has been targeting.

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