Yi Jianlian, basketball player

   2010 earning:  40.9 million yuan  (US$6.23 million)

 Yi Jianlian, born in 1987 in Heshan, Guangdong Province, is one of the most revered basketball players in China, and now plays for the Washington Wizards in the NBA.

In 2004, Yi was enrolled into the Chinese national basketball team; in the following year, he became the youngest MVP in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). In the 2007 NBA Draft, he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks as the sixth overall pick. In June 2008, Yi was traded to the New Jersey Nets, and then transferred to the Washington Wizards in 2010.