The Chinese rich are getting richer as the number of billionaires, those with a personal fortune exceeding $1 billion each, hit 168 this year, a record high.

The 2013 Forbes China Rich List, which was released on Wednesday, said the number of billionaires in the country was only 113 last year, because of the less-than-stellar performance of the Chinese stock market.

In 2003, when Forbes published the list in China for the first time, there was only one person with a fortune estimated at $1 billion.