ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming reclaimed the top spot on a list of China’s richest people, driven by his company's push into artificial intelligence.
The rankings released by The Hurun Research Institute on Tuesday reflected that the country's high-tech sectors were rising but others like consumer and real estate were under pressure.
The institute, which has published the list annually since 1999, found a record 1,529 people with more than 5 billion yuan (about $750 million), up 6.6% from last year.
The number of billionaires based on their net worth in U.S. dollars rose to 1,176, up 155 people — 176 more than the U.S. That was slightly below the 1,185 people in 2021.
Zhang topped the list with $100 billion, up 43%, “almost all of it on the back of AI,” Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman, said in a statement.…