China has biggest number of female billionaires in the world

Chairman Mao Zedong is often quoted for saying "women hold up half the sky" but going by Hurun Report's latest survey, the world's second largest economy accounts for 49 self-made billionaire women out of 73 in the world.

According to the Hurun Report, the 45-year-old "touchscreen queen" Zhou Qunfei stood at No 1 with $7.8 billion (€7.1bn). Hailing from a hardscrabble farming background in Hunan province in central China, Zhou is the founder of Lens Technology, a major supplier of the ultra-thin cover glass used in laptops, tablets and mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy.

She just beat Beijing real estate mogul Chen Lihua (74) with $7.7 billion (€7bn) to become the most successful business woman in the world.

According to Hurun, eight of the top 10 richest self-made women in the world are from China.

The Hurun findings are borne out by the latest UBS/PwC Billionaire report, which shows that “women have been controlling greater average wealth than men and becoming more influential in family businesses, philanthropic enterprises and governance”.

The UBS/PwC report showed that the number of female billionaires grew by a factor 6.6 from 1995 to 2014, and the number of men by a factor of 5.2. "While most female billionaires come from the US and Europe, Asia has the greatest growth in number of self-made female billionaires. Over 80 per cent of female billionaires are coming from the US and Europe. More than 50 per cent of Asian female billionaires are self-made, compared to 19 per cent in the US and 7 per cent in Europe."