Oct. 13, 2010 (China Knowledge) - Eleven of the 20 richest self-made women in the world are Chinese, with the fortune beating the U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey and British author J.K. Rowling, according to the Hurun List of Self-Made Women Billionaires released on Tuesday in Beijing.
      
The three richest women in the world are Chinese, led by 53-year-old Zhang Yin, founder and chairwoman of paper-recycling company Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd<2689>, with a personal fortune of US$5.6 billion.

Wu Yajun, 46 years old, chairman and CEO of Longfor Properties Co Ltd<0960>, comes in second with personal fortune of US$4.1 billion, and Chen Lihua, 69 years old, chairman of Fu Wah International, ranks third with US$4 billion.

The list includes three billionaires from the U.S., three from Britain and one each from Italy, Russia and Spain. The U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey ranked ninth on the list, and the British author J.K. Rowling is in the 20th place with a fortune of US$1 billion.

Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and compiler of the Hurun rich list, said that the success of Chinese women in business was due to the government's one-child policy and free childcare provided by many grandparents.