From Xi Jinping To Rodrigo Duterte: Asia's Most Powerful People

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FORBES' annual ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People features 74 people, for one out of every 100 million of the 7.4 billion people on the planet, whose actions carry the most influence.

View the full list of The World's Most Powerful People

Several leaders across Asia were named on the list. The heads of state of China (No. 4), India (No. 9), Japan (No. 37), and North Korea (No. 43) are in the top 50.

The Philippines' tough-talking President Rodrigo Duterte (No. 70) was the final Asian head of state on the list. Some notable exclusions include Indonesia's Joko Widodo and Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen.

Some of Asia's richest were also on the list, including Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing (No. 33), India's Mukesh Ambani (No. 38), and China's Wang Jianlin (No. 59).

Not surprisingly, China is the Asian country with the most number of people on the list, with 7 listees. Besides Xi Jinping, other Chinese nationals include: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (No. 12), Alibaba’s Jack Ma (No. 28), China Investment Corp's Ding Xuedong (No. 41), Tencent’s Ma Huateng (No. 45), Wang Jianlin (No. 59), and Baidu’s Robin Li (No. 60).

Interestingly, Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda (No. 47) was ranked above outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama (No. 48).

Other leaders in Asia on the list are: Toyota's Akio Toyoda (No. 29), Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong (No. 40), and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son (No. 53).


I’m an assistant digital editor based in Hong Kong, writing and editing stories for the Asia channel. Previously, I worked at the South China Morning Post, where I wrote...