To protect their personal wealth from being eroded by the global financial turmoil, the Chinese mainland's richest people have been cashing out by selling equities they held or assets of their companies.

Chen Wenpei and his family, who run automobile dealer SCAS Investment Group, topped the Hurun Cash-Out Rich List 2011 with 4.5 billion yuan (US$710 million) after selling the company to Zhengtong Auto for 5.5 billion yuan in September last year.

Zhu Linyao, founder of Hong Kong-listed Huabao International, was second with 3.5 billion yuan. The queen of cash-out has withdrawn 8.5 billion yuan out of the market by reducing her shares of the flavors and fragrance manufacturer from 70 percent to less than 40 percent since 2006.

Gao Xuefeng, chairman of Jin Chen Tai Group, was third with 3 billion yuan this year after Yanzhou Coal Mining, one of China's leading coal producers, acquired 51 percent of its subsidiary Inner Mongolia Haosheng Coal Mining in September 2010.

The list has 26 richest people on the mainland with a minimum cash-out of 800 million yuan before tax since 2010. Twenty have pulled funds from their listed firms, four from dividends, and two from their companies' assets.