Nation leads global list of self-made women billionaires

China led the list of global self-made women billionaires in U.S. dollar terms this year with 64 women, representing 63 percent of the total number around the world, according to a report research firm Hurun Report sent to the Global Times on Thursday to mark International Women's Day.

The number of Chinese women billionaires was also up by 8 from last year, the report noted. A total of 102 global self-made women billionaires were listed in the report, up 14 from 2017.

"About 30 percent of the most successful male entrepreneurs in the world are Chinese, and when it comes to women, the percent jumped to 60 percent … Chinese women entrepreneurs are twice as 'successful' as their male counterparts," Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun, was quoted as saying in the report.

Among the top 10, half of the billionaires were from China, with Zhou Qunfei, 49, founder of Shenzhen-based electronics maker Lens Technology, topping the global list. Her assets were valued at 61.5 billion yuan ($9.70 billion), up 45 percent from 2017.

Zhou is also, for the first time, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference this year.

Zhou is followed by the chairman of property developer Longfor, Wu Yajun, 54, with assets of 58.5 billion yuan, up 83 percent year-on-year. She ranked No.2 in the global list.

Third place goes to Chen Lihua, 77, with assets totaling 51 billion yuan. Chen is the chairman of developer Fuwah International Group, and she was ranked first in Hurun's global self-made women billionaires list last year.

The other two Chinese women in the top 10 are Nine Dragons Paper's President Zhang Yin and AAC Technologies' chairman Wu Chunyuan, with assets standing at 47 billion yuan and 31 billion yuan, respectively.

In the past five years, the most successful global women entrepreneurs came from three sectors, which are manufacturing, property and technology.