Peking University tops billionaire alumni list

By Wang Ying (China Daily/Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-27 08:42

Peking University has been labeled the "cradle of Chinese tycoons" after it topped the list of the richest Chinese college graduates with 35 billionaire alumni.

The China University Alumni Association (CUAA) on Thursday released the list of universities from which the richest Chinese graduated.

Zhejiang University and Tsinghua University ranked second and third, with 23 and 22 billionaire alumni respectively.

Billionaire alumni from Peking University include sports goods tycoon Li Ning. The former "gymnastics prince" lit the Beijing Olympic torch at the opening ceremony on Aug 8.

Wang Zhidong, founder of news portal Sina.com, and Yu Minhong, founder of education group New Oriental, also graduated there.

"These billionaire alumni serve to testify that knowledge creates fortune," Zhao Deguo, director of the association, said.

Of the 1,500 billionaires on China's four major rich lists over the past decade, 30 percent of them were university graduates, the association said.

The four lists are Hurun China Rich List; Forbes China Rich List; the Southern Weekend Newspaper's List of New Rich in China (Mainland) and the New Fortune Magazine's List of China's 500 Richest.

Cai Yanhou, a professor at the Central South University who took part in drawing up the list, said that comprehensive universities, such as Peking University, have more billionaire alumni than specialized ones.

Yuan Shiwei, a professor with Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told China Daily that the billionaire alumni are the "best advertisement for their university".

"The wealthy alumni also tend to recruit graduates of their alma mater or provide internships or training opportunities to them, making them the idol of young students and an example to new graduates who are about to start their own business," Yuan said.