2010 marked another bountiful year for Hong Kong's real estate tycoons, who retained the top four spots in a list of the city's top 40 billionaires, compiled by Forbes Magazine.

The combined net worth of Hong Kong's 40 richest swelled 21 percent to $163 billion from $135 billion in 2009, though still below the 2008 high of $178 billion, according to Forbes.

Of these billionaires, over a third made their money in real estate, Forbes said.

Li Ka-shing, the 82-year-old chairman of developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd better known by the nickname of "superman" in the city, topped the list again, with an estimated fortune of $24 billion, up from $21.3 billion a year earlier. The past year witnessed the largest international acquisition yet led by Li, a $9 billion deal to buy Electricite de France's (EDF) UK assets.

The Kwok brothers finished second on the list, with an estimated wealth of $20 billion. Despite the family feud, shares in their real estate developer Sun Hung Kai Properties, the world's largest developer by market value, jumped 20 percent in the past year as the company's net profits nearly tripled during the first six months of 2010.

Lee Shau-kee, the 82-year-old chairman of another property firm, Henderson Land Development Co, fell back to number three on the list from second in the previous year, with $19.5 billion. He was followed by another property magnate, Cheng Yu-tung, who controls New World Development Ltd and has a personal fortune of $9 billion.

For those who made a bulk of their fortunes on the real estate business, surging home prices certainly helped. During the past year, the city's housing prices soared almost 20 percent, driven by abundant liquidity and record-low mortgage rates.

But besides the red-hot housing market, the city's richest are also lucky to have had the backing of a large number of increasingly-affluent consumers from the mainland.

"There is no doubt that most of Hong Kong's wealthiest are riding the China wave, catering to increasingly affluent mainland consumers," Forbes said in a note accompanying the latest list.

Among them are newcomers Simon and Eleanor Kwok, the couple who own the cosmetics chain Sa Sa International; and Albert Yeung, who heads the watch chain Emperor Watch & Jewellery.

Cheng Yu-tung, the fourth richest person in Hong Kong, is also reaping the benefits from newly-affluent mainlanders spending generously on luxury items as his jewelry business Chow Tai Fook makes bumper profits. In November, Chow Tai Fook opened its 1,000th store in Beijing in an effort to expand its footprint on the mainland to meet the growing demand for jewelry items.

Tang Yiu, at number nine on the rich list, has hit the jackpot as his firm, Belle International, has become China's biggest retailer of women's shoes.

China Daily

(HK Edition 01/07/2011 page2)