China has more billionaires than the United States for the first time after the ranks of the mainland's wealthiest, led by real estate mogul Wang Jianlin, swelled by 242, according to the latest rich list from Shanghai-based research firm Hurun.

There are now 596 US dollar billionaires in mainland China, Hurun said in a report released on Thursday. That number jumps to 715 if Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are included and compares to 537 American billionaires, based on Hurun's calculations.

However, China's richest tycoons have some way to go before they catch up to their American counterparts as Mr Wang's US$34.4 billion ($47 billion) fortune is less than half the wealth of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett.

Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, tops the list with a fortune of $US34.4 billion ($47.4 billion). Getty Images

Still, the chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, which owns cinema chain Hoyts and is one of the leading Chinese investors in Australian real estate, has seen his wealth grow more than 50 per cent from last year. That increase follows a string of overseas deals and the strong performance of the group's newly-listed cinema chain, placing him ahead of e-commerce giant Alibaba's Jack Ma and beverage king, Wahaha Group's Zong Qinghou.

The IT sector is the fastest-growing source of wealth in China, according to the Hurun research, with its number of rich-listers jumping 43 per cent from last year. They include Cheng Wei, a former Alibaba executive who left to co-found ride-hailing app Didi Kuaidi, which is locked in a fierce battle with Uber to win over commuters and dominate the Chinese market.