There were 96 Russians on the list, led by the steel and telecoms investor Alisher Usmanov, who ranked 28th overall with $18.1 billion, and 95 Chinese mainland millionaires, led by Robin Li. Behind them were 55 Germans, 48 Indians, 37 Britons, 38 people from Hong Kong, 36 Brazilians, 25 from Canada, and 24 billionaires each from Taiwan and Japan.

Baidu is the most popular search site in the world's most populous country. Founded in 2000 and listed on the Nasdaq in 2005, Baidu's Li has frequently been placed on the World's Billionaires list since 2008.

Li dropped off on the list in 2009, but returned to the ranks in 2010 with a net worth nearly double the 2008 figure, thanks to annual growth of 281 percent. Baidu shares, together with Li's fortune, skyrocketed in 2010 after Google Inc exited China early that year.

Li, 43, has remained on the list since then. Baidu now owns a 78-percent share of China's search engine market.

Speaking to the Financial Times in March last year, Li announced the company would gear up for a push into the mobile electronics industry, which he said was an irresistible developing trend in the Internet industry.

Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent Holdings Ltd, William Ding, CEO of NetEase.com; and Jack Ma, founder and CEO of Alibaba Group, made the top 500.

Fourteen Chinese shared last position on the list with a net worth of $1 billion.

In total, seven Chinese women made the list. Wu Yajun, 48, was the richest Chinese woman on the list, ranking 178th with a fortune of $5.7 billion.

Yang Huiyan, the second-richest Chinese woman on the list, was also the youngest Chinese billionaire. The 30-year-old real estate tycoon is worth $4.7 billion.

AFP in Washington contributed to this story.

maliyao@chinadaily.com.cn