SHANGHAI, Oct 29 (Reuters) - ByteDance founder Zhang

Yiming is China's richest person, with personal wealth of $49.3

billion, an annual rich list showed on Tuesday, although

counterparts in real estate and renewables have fared less well.

Zhang, 41, who stepped down as chief executive of ByteDance

in 2021, becomes the 18th individual to be crowned China's

richest person in the 26 years since the Hurun China Rich List

was first published.

He overtook bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan, who

slipped to second place as his fortune dropped 24% to $47.9

billion.

Despite a legal battle over its U.S. assets, ByteDance's

global revenue grew 30% last year to $110 billion, Hurun said,

helping to propel Zhang's personal fortune.

Third on the list was Tencent's ( TCTZF ) low-profile

founder, Pony Ma, while Colin Huang, founder of PDD Holdings ( PDD ),

slipped to fourth place from third last year, even as

his firm's discount-focused e-commerce platforms, Pinduoduo and

Temu, continue to show healthy revenue growth.

The number of billionaires on the list dropped by 142 to

753, shrinking more than a third from its 2021 peak.

"China's economy and stock markets had a difficult year,"

said Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf.

The most dramatic falls in fortunes have come from China's

real estate sector, he added, while consumer electronics is

clearly rising fast, with Xiaomi ( XIACF ) founder Lei Jun

adding $5 billion to his wealth this year.

"Solar panel, lithium battery and EV makers have had a

challenging year, as competition intensified, leading to a glut,

and the threat of tariffs added to uncertainties," said

Hoogewerf, who is also the list's chief researcher.

"Solar panel makers saw their wealth down as much as 80%

from the 2021 peak, while battery and EV makers were down by

half and a quarter respectively."