The gloomy stock market in 2011 seriously ate into the fortunes of many ultra-rich Chinese, with the top 10 of them having a combined 86.6 billion yuan (US$13.7 billion) of their assets evaporating into thin air. The lost sum accounted for 35.2 percent of their previous aggregate of 246.2 billion yuan (US$39.1 billion), according to reports by Chinese wealth management journal Money Week.

The luckiest of the top 10 families whose asset value shrunk the most last year, Lu Guanqiu & Family, lost 5 billion yuan (US$794 million).

Sany chairman Liang Wengen, the billionaire who topped the Money Week's rich list of 3,000 Chinese families in July 2011, saw his asset value shrink by 16.2 billion yuan (US$2.57 billion) by the end of 2011, making him the year's biggest loser of wealth.

Here are the top 10 biggest losers of wealth in 2011 according to Money Week journal.

   Lu Guanqiu & Family 魯冠球家族

 Company: Wanxiang Group and other companies 萬向集團(tuán)等

Sector: Diversified

Shares: 41.22 percent in Wanxiang Qianchao Co. Ltd.

Stock code: 000559.SZ

Current wealth: 11.5 billion yuan (US$1.83 billion)

Losses: 5 billion yuan (US$794 million)

Percentage lost: 30 percent

Lu Guanqiu, chairman of Wanxiang Group, was ranked 33rd among the 3000 richest Chinese families in July 2011, but saw his asset value of 16.5 billion yuan (US$2.62 billion) shrink by 5 billion yuan (US$794 million) between July and December 2011. The entrepreneur is recognized as an evergreen in China's business world, with his vast empire encompassing production of auto parts and alternative fuel vehicles, real estate, agriculture and and finance.

Lu started his business in 1969 with his auto parts company, Wanxiang Qianchao Co. Ltd., now the largest of its kind in China. Lu, who cherishes a dream of making Wangxiang into a car brand, has been investing in alternative fuel vehicles for the past 10 years. In July 2011, it was reported that Lu might inject more capital into Wangxiang Qianchao to that end. In early July, the price of Wangxiang Qianchao's stocks began to shake and fall after rising sharply for several days.

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