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Mar.5-According to Beijing Morning Post, Forbes has released its 2007 Chinese Celebrity list recently, with Yao Ming, the world-renowned basketball player of Houston Rockets, as the new leading star.

Forbes's list is based on the income and social influence of the candidates. "Income" here refers to their pre-tax incomes, rather than actual ones. Their activeness and fame was also taken into consideration.

The second position on the list is taken by another famous athlete, Liu Xiang, the 110-m hurdles world record holder.

The third position is occupied by Zhang Yimou, the famous Chinese movie director (the director of Heroes, The House of Flying Daggers and The Curse of the Golden Flower), with an annual income of 35 million yuan in 2006.

Lang Lang, the pianist, also takes a position on the list, with an annual income of 150 million yuan (the richest artist on the list), but his relatively limited social influence holds him back from the top.