The world's richest women

THE three richest self-made women on the planet are Chinese, led by paper-recycling queen Zhang Yin, who has a personal fortune of US$5.6 billion (S$7.3 billion), according to the Shanghai-based Hurun Report, which compiles data on wealthy individuals.

Of the 20 richest self-made female billionaires on the list, 11 are Chinese, with wealth averaging US$2.6 billion - compared with ninth-placed Winfrey's US$2.3 billion, the report said.

JK Rowling, author of the wildly popular Harry Potter books, wasn at the bottom of the list, with US$1 billion.

'There is no other country that comes even close to touching the number of self-made women in China,' said Mr Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and compiler of the Hurun rich list.

The list includes three billionaires from the United States, three from Britain and one each from Italy, Russia and Spain. The richest non-Chinese person on the list was Rosalia Mera of Spanish clothing store Zara with US$3.5 billion.

Mr Hoogewerf partly attributed the Chinese women's business success to the government's one-child policy and free childcare provided by many grandparents, which has enabled them to spend time building their empires.