economy - Women on the move in rich-list

Zhang Yin, worth US$3.4 billion, has been the first woman to top the Hurun rich list, writes Bloomberg. Zhang has been recycling paper in her Nine Dragon Holdings Ltd. and came from relative obscurity. Self-made women are a major feature on the list that now holds 500 names.

``Women are playing more important roles in China, especially in the private sector as entrepreneurs,'' said Hung Huang, the female chief executive of China Interactive Media Group, a Beijing-based magazine and Internet publisher. ``If you look at the 35 on the list, all are founders of their own companies.''

While women are very much underrepresented in state-owned enterprises, they are doing very well in the private sector.