Twenty years ago, there was little to no private wealth in China, yet today the average personal net worth of the wealthiest 50 entrepreneurs is over $200 million. The Communist Party's survival depends on China's successful economic integration into the world trading system, and it can not achieve this without entrepreneurship on a large scale. Hence the Party's pragmatic philosophy: to allow a few individuals to get rich in the belief that they will play a significant part in developing the rest of the country. Who are the 47 men and 3 women on this year's top 50 list? In what industries have their companies arisen? How has the composition of the ranking changed during the past 2 years? And what do their stories illustrate about changes in China's climate for entrepreneurship?

Rupert Hoogewerf is a freelance journalist whose research into the Top 50 wealthiest entrepreneurs of China was published for the second year running in Forbes magazine. Prior to journalism, Mr. Hoogewerf worked for 7 years with Arthur Andersen in London and Shanghai. Graduating from Durham University in Chinese and Japanese, he is based in London and Shanghai.