A China Town in Singapore. A blue book says the richest non-mainland Chinese come primarily from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.[CFP]

The average wealth of the 40 richest residents on China's mainland has reached nearly US$3.42 billion, almost 70 percent higher than that of the 241 richest non-mainland Chinese, a report released by Huaqiao University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says.

Researchers said the richest non-mainland Chinese come primarily from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, while the richest people on China's mainland mainly come from Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces. According to the 2010 Forbes rich list, wealthy people from those three provinces represented 37.8 percent of the list and held 40.1 percent of the list's money.

The richest Chinese living in Southeast Asia are mostly in traditional industries such as energy and manufacturing, but the number of tech sector tycoons is on the rise. The wealth of Hong Kong's magnates mainly comes from real estate and other diversified business, while Taiwan richest businessmen make their fortunes running manufacturing, electronics and information technology firms.

China's business press carried the story above on Tuesday.