Opinion | Mao Zedong's granddaughter among China's richest people

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A statue of China's late Chairman Mao is seen in front of buildings during a hazy day in Shenyang, Liaoning, May 7, 2013. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:31pm, 8 May 2013Updated: 4:13am, 29 Aug 2013

Mao Zedong's granddaughter has become one of China's richest people, according to an annual ranking of the nation's richest 500.

Kong Dongmei, the granddaughter of the founder of the People's Republic and his third wife He Zizhen, along with her husband Chen Dongsheng have the combined wealth of five billion yuan (HK$6.3 billion), putting them at number 242 in the annual ranking by the Guangdong-based New Fortune magazine.

Their marriage has only become publicly known last year. It was rumoured the couple of 15 years could only marry after Chen divorced his previous wife in 2011.

Chen is the founder of China's first national auction house Guardian and the country's fourth largest insurance house Taikang.

"The House of Mao will never engage in business," Mao's only known grandson Mao Xinyu, a major general in the People's Liberation Army, reportedly pledged, perhaps to avoid suspicion of exploiting the illustrious ancestor for personal gain.

Xinyu's comments came at a time when China was debating the legacy and business ties of disgraced Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, himself the son of one of the founding fathers of Communist China, Bo Yibo.

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