In a country not known for its openness about wealth, the Hurun Rich List has long been described as a "fat pig killing list". The implication is that a high-profile exposure of wealth can be followed by a high-profile knockdown.

But that attitude is changing as China's economic growth over the past decade has not only created a fast-track to wealth but also a new wealthy class that wants to let the world understand it better by making its wealth more transparent, said Rupert Hoogewerf.

Hoogewerf, the founder of the Hurun Report, which publishes the well-known annual listing of the richest 1,000 people in China, said that China's richest are reluctant to be identified as a "new money class" when put under the spotlight by his rich list, and are now seeking cooperation and providing him more data to prove otherwise.