Colin Huang, the founder of e-commerce giant PDD Holdings (NASDAQ:PDD) has overtaken bottled-water magnate Zhong Shanshan to become China's richest person.

What Happened: Huang's net worth has soared to $48.6 billion, surpassing Shanshan's $47.4 billion, reported Bloomberg.

This follows the successful expansion of Pinduoduo's operations beyond China under the name Temu, which rivals U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).

Huang's wealth peaked at $71.5 billion in early 2021. However, this fortune fell 87% within a year, the report noted. However, the company's expansion beyond China under the Temu brand has helped Huang stage a rebound.

Huang's scale from the fortune collapse to now becoming the wealthiest individual in China is driven by the changing shopping habits of Chinese consumers. However, that doesn't mean Huang's path has been smooth.

Previously, Pinduoduo has also faced criticism from suppliers for driving down prices and imposing a grueling work schedule.

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Why It's Important: Last month, a survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers, noted that while Amazon's lead in e-commerce continues to remain unshaken, Temu has been emerging as a significant competitor.

On Thursday, it was reported that Huang's Temu rival, Amazon has been ramping up its recruitment of sellers in China.

The Andy Jassy-led company intends to expand its range of affordable products in the U.S. and other markets to compete with its Chinese competitors.

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