Merkel

SINGAPORE (Reuters):

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the most powerful woman in the world, while Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi has risen to second place in Forbes magazine's annual list, the company said in a statement, yesterday.

"Merkel continued to impress the world with her cool leadership at two back-to-back summits, and stuck to her principles, getting G8 leaders to agree to significant cuts in carbon emissions, among other things," Forbes said.

It said Wu Yi was a rising star in China's Communist Party, having hammered out trade agreements with Russia and overseeing the country's negotiations for accession to the World Trade Organisation.

The magazine said the ranking is based on a composite of visibility - measured by press citations - and economic impact.

The biggest mover on this year's list was Ho Ching - chief executive of Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings and wife of Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong - who jumped to third place from 36th last year, trumping U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who fell from second to fourth place.

"Ho Ching is rarely seen or heard from. But increasingly she is a force to be reckoned with, as her deal-making ambitions span the globe," Forbes said in a short profile of Ho.