China dominates list of globe's richest self-made women

BEIJING: More than half of the 20 richest self-made women in the world are Chinese, with their average fortune surpassing US talk show host Oprah Winfrey and author J K Rowling, a list showed today.

The three richest women on the planet are Chinese, led by paper-recycling queen Zhang Yin, who has a personal fortune of $ 5.6 bn, according to the Shanghai-based Hurun Report, which compiles data on wealthy individuals.

Of the 20 richest self-made female bnaires, 11 are Chinese, with wealth averaging $ 2.6 bn -- compared with ninth-placed Winfrey's $ 2.3 bn, the report said.

Rowling, author of the wildly popular Harry Potter books, came on bottom of the list, with one bn dollars.

"There is no other country that comes even close to touching the number of self-made women in China. They are now head and shoulders above any other country," said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and compiler of the Hurun rich list.

The list includes three bnaires from the United States, three from Britain and one each from Italy, Russia and Spain.

The richest non-Chinese person on the list was Rosalia Mera of Spanish clothing store Zara with $ 3.5 bn.

Hoogewerf partly attributed the Chinese women's business success to the government's one-child policy and free childcare provided by many grandparents, which has enabled them to spend time building their empires.

"That makes a huge difference," he told media, adding that China's long acceptance of women working outside the home has been another significant factor.