Forbes released its 2011 Billionaire List on Wednesday, which sees a record high in the number of billionaires (1,210) as well as in the amount of total net worth (US$4.5 trillion).

This year, a total of 176 businessmen from China (including 115 from Chinese mainland,36 from Hong Kong and 25 from Taiwan) made their way onto the list, 69 more than the number for last year and twice higher than the 52 in 2009, making China the second source of billionaires in the world.

Here are the top 20 richest people from China on Forbes' 2011 Billionaire List:

 

   Ma Huateng (馬化騰)

Ma Huateng is the co-founder of Tencent Inc., a famous Chinese internet company. The company released its first product, an instant message tool named Tencent QQ, in 1998, which has become very popular in China. Now its diverse services include social networks, Web portals, e-commerce, and multiplayer online games. Tencent is one of the world's 10 most popular websites, according to survey company Alexa, and its Hong Kong-listed shares are up by about a third in the past year. Zhang Zhidong, another co-founder, is also on the billionaires list this year.

 

Zhang Jindong is one of the two founders and the current president of the Suning Group, China's largest electrical appliance retailer. Zhang further developed his shop into a giant business group - the Suning Group, with only 15 years. Suning has been looking beyond Chinese mainland; last year it bought Citicall Retail Management in Hong Kong. Zhang also has real estate investments. His elder brother Zhang Guiping is also a billionaire.