Heavy equipment tycoon is China's richest man

China's construction boom has propelled a maker of pile drivers and other heavy machinery to the top of the country's rich list.

The Hurun Rich List 2010, China's equivalent of the Forbes list, said 55-year-old Liang Wengen, a former weapons plant manager and chairman of Sany Heavy Industry Co., leads the country's fast-growing ranks of super-wealthy.

A surge in Sany's share price doubled his fortune last year, to $11 billion, said Rupert Hoogewerf, who studies China's wealthy and compiled the list.

Consumer goods, Internet and property tycoons dominated the top of the list.

Image: In this September 12, 2007 file photo, Liang Wengen, right, chairman of Sany Heavy Industry Co., speaks to the media via an interpreter, left.

Text: AP and Reuters

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