Amid growing public concern over how China's richest get their wealth, Du Sha, one of China's richest people according to a new Forbes ranking, claimed that every cent he made was above board.

Du insisted he had never bribed anyone or done anything underhand.

With assets of $530 million dollars, Du ranks eighth on Forbes' annual list of China's richest people.

The 48-year-old is president of the Tianjin-based Home World commercial chain group, China's biggest private construction material and department store chain.

He regarded the Forbes list as an affirmation of the success of Chinese private businesses.

But some of Du's wealthy peers have been keeping a low profile and even tried to avoid being listed, for fear of drawing too much attention from the government and tax collectors.

The paper gives the example of, Zhou Zhengyi, a Shanghai property tycoon, who was sentenced to three years in jail on charges of fraud and stock manipulation in 2003.

Only one year ago, he was ranked by Forbes as China's 11th- richest man, with a fortune estimated at US$320 million.