Forbes Top 10 Chinese Celebrities Of 2014: Fan Bingbing Tops List

Joining her in the top 10 were familiar names like Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi and Jackie Chan. Celebrities were ranked based on their commercial value, which is calculated based on their income and exposure.

According to the income rankings Chinese-language version of the list, the most famous celebrities do not always equal the richest: Fan actually earns the fourth-highest income, coming after third-place Jay Chou, eighth-place Li Na, and 12th-place musical group Mayday.

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View the complete list of Top 100 on Forbes China.

Action star Jackie Chan takes the final spot on the top 10 though the multi-talented veteran hasn’t been too active lately. Chan starred in Police Story 2013, a reboot of the Police Story film series in which Chan takes on the role of a mainland Chinese officer, the film was released in December 2013.

The Taiwanese singer and actor started his career in the boy band Little Tigers Team before persuing a successful solo career which saw him release both Mandarin and Cantonese albums. Wu’s most recent TV series, Scarlet Heart 2, premiered in China on April 22. Wu takes the male lead opposite real life girlfriend Cecilia Liu.

The only athelete to make it into the top 10, the professional tennis player is currently ranked world no. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association. Li defeated Dominika Cibulkova in the 2014 Australian open finals to become the first Asian Australian Open champion. Li also managed to beat Cibulkova in straight sets and win the title after being match point down, the fourth woman to do so.

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Referred to by many as "The First Face of Taiwan", Lin's beauty and gentle demeanor gained her a wide fan base. The model turned actress skyrocketed into the lime light in 2004 with a series of advertisements in Taiwan which led to a craze for supermodels and what was eventually called "The Lin Chi-ling Phenomenon".

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The young starlet, who started acting at the age of four, gained popularity through her breakthrough role in Chinese television series Palace in 2011. Though she was awarded Most Disappointing Actress at the Golden Broom Awards in 2013, Yang has films and TV shows lined up this year with films The Breakup Guru and Tiny Times 3 premiering in June and July respectively.

Film actress and model Zhang Ziyi takes fifth place in 2014. Well known for her roles in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers and Memoirs of a Geisha, some of her more recent works include Wu Wen Xi Dong and John Woo's The Crossing.

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Rising to the fourth spot from the eighth last year, Huang Xiaoming has made the successful transition from television idol to big screen male lead. The actor has numerous films waiting to be released including Chinese 3D epic drama The Crossing and The White Haired Witch Of Lunar Kingdom.

The Taiwanese singer-songwriter places third on the list, though his earnings are the highest at 156.5 million yuan. The multi-talented artist not only composes for himself and other singers but has also tried his hand at acting and directing.

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Ranking within the top five in the last five years, the heavenly king of Cantopop has proven that his star still shines bright. The Guinness World Record holder for “Most awards won by a Cantopop male artiste” held a sold-out concert tour late 2013. Earning 89 million yuan (RM46.47mil), Lau’s films in 2013 include Blind Detective, a romantic-comedy also starring Sammi Cheng and Firestorm, which he starred in as well as produced.

An actress, singer and television producer, Fan has topped the list for the second year running. The fashion icon has been busy lately, filming the Hollywood blockbuster X-Men: Days Of Future Past as well as for her role as Empress Wu Zetian in TV serial The Empress Of China. Fan’s popularity helped her beat singer Jay Chou, ranked third on the list, who was the year’s biggest earner, with 156.5 million yuan (RM81.7mil).