Driven by artificial intelligence and other emerging industries, 404 entrepreneurs from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area made the Hurun China Rich List 2026. With 177 entrants, Shenzhen has become the city with the most entrepreneurs on the list for the first time.

Businesspeople from the Greater Bay Area make up 26 percent of all entrants, according to the ranking, which was unveiled on Tuesday. This year, 1,529 Chinese entrepreneurs from the private sector with personal fortunes of at least 5 billion yuan ($749.8 million) entered the list. A record 102 of them are from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ranking fourth among cities.

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The number of Shenzhen entrepreneurs on the list rose by 30 from last year — the largest increase among all cities. The growth was driven mainly by the concentration of tech industries such as AI, semiconductors, and robotics, as well as a rebound in the A-share technology sector, according to Hurun Research Institute.

For other Greater Bay Area cities, 61 listed entrepreneurs live in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, ranking sixth by city. Twenty-three live in Dongguan, and 21 in Foshan, ranking 12th and 13th, respectively.

In terms of personal wealth, Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of internet giant Tencent, claims fourth across the nation with 346 billion yuan, maintaining his leading position.

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The He Xiangjian family at the helm of home appliance leader Midea Group ranks fifth with a fortune of 310 billion yuan. They have been Foshan’s wealthiest family for eight consecutive years.

Wang Chuanfu, who heads electric vehicle giant BYD, sits at 21st with a fortune of 150 billion yuan. Wang Tao, founder of drone maker DJI, comes in 38th with 110 billion yuan, while Wang Laichun, founder of electronic components manufacturer Luxshare Precision, follows in 54th place with 90 billion yuan.

The list shows that the AI and robotics industries have become key engines of wealth growth for China’s private sector, nurturing more than 160 and nearly 80 billionaires on the list, respectively. One in every 10 people on the list owes their wealth to the AI sector.

As “hard tech” has become a core focus of China’s economic transformation, it has also driven wealth growth in sectors such as semiconductors, storage, and computing power.

The research institute predicts that China will witness the rise of its first group of trillion yuan-level entrepreneurs in the next decade. Highlighting the great potential of the commercial space industry, brain-computer interfaces and quantum computing, as well as the One-Person Company sector, it forecasts that more candidates from these fields will make the list.

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Hu Gang, founding president of South China Urban Research Association and a professor at Jinan University, said that new-quality productive forces have become the central driver of wealth creation in the Greater Bay Area. “This is not merely a numerical change in wealth, but a structural shift in industrial sectors, innovation ecosystems, and the competitive landscape among cities.”

Shenzhen is one of the few cities in China capable of supporting the industrialization of large language models, chips, and computing hardware simultaneously. Compared to Beijing and Shanghai, its advantages lie in the rapid commercialization of innovative achievements, a fully-fledged supporting industrial chain, and a highly vibrant entrepreneurial culture, making it easier to foster a new generation of tech leaders on a large scale, said Hu.

With a focus on the wealth of private entrepreneurs, the list offers a picture of the vibrancy of market-driven entrepreneurship rather than a complete measure of a city’s overall strength. Still, they serve as a sensitive barometer, underscoring that future urban competitiveness will depend in large part on a city’s ability to sustain the industrialization of high-growth sectors, he added.

Contact the writer at bingcun@chinadailyhk.com