The surging global popularity of TikTok has made the co-founder of its parent company, ByteDance, China's richest person.

According to a rich list compiled by the Hurun Research Institute, Zhang Yiming is now worth $49.3bn (£38bn) - 43% more than in 2023.

The 41-year-old stepped down from his job running the company in 2021 but is understood to own around 20% of the firm.

Despite deep concerns in some countries about its ties to the Chinese state, TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps worldwide.

While both companies insist they are independent of the Chinese government, the US intends to ban TikTok in January 2025 unless ByteDance sells it.

While Zhang Yiming saw intense pressure at home, the profit of ByteDance soared 60% last year, thus fueling his personal fortune.

"Zhang Yiming is the 18th new Number One we have had in China in just 26 years," said Rupert Hoogewerf, the head of Hurun.

"The US, by comparison, has only four Number Ones: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.".

"This gives an indication of some of the dynamism in the Chinese economy."

Tech fortunes

Mr Zhang is not the only representative of China's huge tech sector on the list.

Pony Ma, boss of the tech conglomerate, Tencent, is third on the list with an estimated personal wealth amounting to £44.4bn.

But their good fortune is not only a function of their companies' successes -- their rivals have notched less in a year during which the Chinese economy has sputtered.

In fact, only around 30% of the people on the list had an increase in their net worth -- the rest saw their value decline.

How did Zhang Yiming become one of the richest people on the planet?
"The Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China's economy and stock markets had a difficult year," said Mr Hoogewerf .

"However, the number of individuals on the list was down by 12% in the past year to just under 1100 individuals and 25% from the high point of 2021."

He said that, by this data, smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi had enjoyed a pretty good year even as the green energy market had stumbled.

"Solar panel, lithium battery and EV makers have had a challenging year, with growing competition increasing supply and scary threats of tariffs adding to uncertainty," he said.

"The wealth of solar panel makers fell as much as 80% from the 2021 peak, while those in battery and EV manufacturing lost half and a quarter, respectively."