ZHONG SHANSHAN, THE RICHEST MAN IN CHINA

As of late 2025, Zhong Shanshan, founder of the bottled water giant Nongfu Spring, has reclaimed his title as the richest person in China.

Here are the details on the top, according to 2025 reports:

Richest Person (1st):

Zhong Shanshan (Nongfu Spring/Wantai Biological) with a net worth estimated at over US$74 billion.

He has held the top spot for four consecutive years, often referred to as a "lone wolf" for his low-profile, independent business approach.

Key Challenger:

Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok parent company ByteDance, briefly overtook Zhong in early 2025 due to a surge in AI-driven valuation, but later fell back to second place.

Zhong Shanshan's fortune is largely derived from his dominant market share in China's bottled water industry (Nongfu Spring) and his majority stake in the vaccine producer Beijing Wantai Biological.