So who is the richest man in China – Jack Ma or Wang Jianlin?

Establishing who is the richest person in China is a challenging task, given the dizzying share market movements and the pace with which the country's tycoons expand their operations or overtake each other.

In the 2015 Forbes Billionaires List, Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda, overtook Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma as the richest man in China, after a sluggish performance by a post-IPO Alibaba.

Wang's personal fortune rose to $24.2 billion (€21.87 billion) from $15.1 billion (€13.65 billion) a year ago, tying him in 29th place in the global listings with George Soros.

In the Hurun rich list, Ma is the winner, with a $25 billion (€22.59 billion) fortune, while Wang is second placed with $24.2 billion (€21.87 billion).

In the Bloomberg Billionaires list, which updates daily, Ma is also the richest in China (and 15th richest in the world), with a net worth of $34.7 billion (€31.36 billion) compared to Wang's $29.7 billion (€26.84 billion), placing Wang 23rd richest in the world.