China moves up ‘power woman’ list

Chinese women have made their strongest showing on Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful women.

There are a record nine women from China on the 2016 Power Women list, though German Chancellor Angela Merkel remains in the top spot.

Hillary Clinton, the US presidential candidate, and Janet Yellen, chair of the Federal Reserve, were second and third.

Even this year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds on to the title of Forbes magazine's most powerful woman in the world. Photo: Reuters

The US dominated the list with 51 women represented, while China was second.

Lucy Peng, a senior executive at e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization, are the highest-ranked Chinese women. Also on the list are Pollyanna Chu, chief executive of Hong Kong financial services firm Kingston Securities, and China's First Lady Peng Liyuan.

Hillary Clinton has thanked her supporters for helping her reach a historic moment for women - the Democratic nomination for president. Photo: AFP

The survey features 100 women from 29 countries who represent sectors such as politics, business, technology and philanthropy.

Forbes said the women on the list control $1tn (£694bn) in revenue and influence more than 3.6bn people around the world.

There are 32 chief executives on the list, 12 world leaders and 11 billionaires, including nine who have built billion-dollar companies from scratch. The average age is 57, with Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer the youngest at 41 and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II the oldest at 90.

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, 41, is the youngest woman on the Forbes list. Photo: AFP

This is the sixth consecutive year Merkel has topped the list and the 11th time in total.

The number of UK women who made the rankings doubled to six. They include Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, a newcomer, and Nemat Shafik, deputy governor of the Bank of England, who first appeared on the list in 2015.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, 90, is the oldest in the list. Photo taken from BBC.

The most high-profile drop-offs include Dilma Rousseff, the former president of Brazil who was impeached in May over allegations of violating fiscal rules, which she denies.

Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the blood-testing firm Theranos, also failed to make the list. US federal agencies are investigating Theranos over allegations its tests are inaccurate. Last week, Forbes lowered its estimate of Holmes' personal fortune from $4.5bn to nothing, after previously declaring her America's richest self-made woman.