Mao Zedong once said that "women hold up half the sky", and it seems modern Chinese businesswomen are taking him at his word.

While the 2007 Forbes list of China's wealthiest 400 people is once again dominated by men, for the second year in a row, the No 1 spot is occupied by a woman.

With a personal fortune of $16 billion, 26-year-old Yang Huiyan succeeds 50-year-old Zhang Yin (ranked 11th in 2007), as the country's richest person.