Chinese property tycoons lose their top billing as manufacturing billioniares dominate rich list

Nearly 50% of China's top 1,000 wealthiest citizens have faced financial losses this year, with the average wealth falling 9% to $US860 million, according to China's rich list by the Hurun Report.

Some 37 of China's richest have lost as much as half of their wealth. The fallout of Beijing's efforts to curb real-estate speculation knocked out property as the largest source for wealth for China's richest, replaced by manufacturing, a first since Hurun's records began in 1999.

The number of dollar billionaires dropped from 271 to 251, according to the Shanghai-based group that follows wealth trends in the country as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

The threshold to make the top 1,000 fell by 9% to $290 million as stock-price declines and shifts in the solar, textile and retail sectors contributed to the decline.

The softening economy overall is making booming growth more difficult in China, said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun's chairman and chief researcher.

China's newly crowned richest man is Zong Qinghou, last year's No. 2, who garnered $12.6 billion by building closely held beverage empire Hangzhou Wahaha Group.

Zong's wealth increase from $10.7 billion to gain the top spot from Sany Heavy Industry Co. owner Liang Wengen, who ranked fifth at $7.3 billion.