As of January 15, there were 56 self-made female billionaires in China, the largest number in the world, followed by the U.S. and the UK, Hurun Report said in a report sent to the Global Times on Wednesday, which was International Women's Day.
The list had 88 billionaires from 12 countries and regions, with average wealth of $2.2 billion, up 11 percent year-on-year. Among the top 10, six are from China.
Chen Lihua, 76, who set up Hong Kong-based real estate company Fu Wah International Group, led the list with assets valued at $7.2 billion.
Zhou Qunfei, 47, of Lens Technology, known as the "Touchscreen Queen," ranked second with $6 billion. She was the richest self-made woman in the world for 2015 when her company went public.
The average age for those on the list is 57, seven years younger than those on the Hurun Global Rich List released on Tuesday.
Hangzhou-based Wu Yan, 36, of media and entertainment company Hakim Unique Internet Co, is the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world.
The top three cities on the list are all in China, led by Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, the report said.
Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said that one reason so many Chinese women are on the list is the family structure.
He cited "the one-child policy coupled with traditional childcare, whereby grandparents often play a much larger role in bringing up the children than in developed countries."
