Property mogul Wang Jianlin named China's richest person with $14.2 bln fortune

Wang Jianlin, owner of China's biggest commercial land developer has been named the country's wealthiest person with an estimated fortune of 14.2 billion dollars.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Wang is 3.2 billion dollars richer than Zong Qinghou, who is named China's second-wealthiest person and founder of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, the country's No. 3 beverage maker.

Wang, whose real estate empire has 148 million square feet under management, plans to increase his property holdings by 68 percent by 2014, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The 58-year-old billionaire is the oldest of five brothers born to a military family in western China's Sichuan province, near the border with Tibet.

 

Wang has also built 72 shopping centres, called 'Wanda Plazas,' anchored by his company's department stores, office buildings and cinemas.