Forbes unveils list of powerful women

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Wednesday named the world's most powerful woman by Forbes Magazine, putting her at the top of the prestigious list for the third year in a row.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fell from fourth place last year to seventh place. Former US first lady and Democratic presidential contender, Senator Hillary Clinton was ranked 28th by the magazine -- three places lower than last year.

Runner-up in the rankings was the little known Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the US agency that "maintains the stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system by insuring deposits, supervising financial institutions, and managing receiverships."

The third-place finisher was Indra Nooyi, chief executive of US softdrink giant, PepsiCo, who was one of 54 business leaders on the list.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, one of 23 politicians on the list, is in 13th place.

Other notable women on the list include French Economy, Finance and Employment Minister Christine Lagarde, in 14th place; Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, head of the Indian National Congress Party, ranked 21st; and Queen Rania of Jordan, in 96th place.

Six of the top 10 women are American, with the remaining four from Germany, Australia, Singapore and France.

Four famous Chinese women who made into the list were: Zhang Xin, Chief executive officer and co-founder of Soho China (68), Yang Mian Mian, president of China's home appliance giant Haier(70), Eva Cheng, chief executive of Greater China and Southeast Asia of Amway(88) and Jing Ulrich, chairman and managing director of JPMorgan Chase China Equities(95).

Top ten most powerful women:

Angela Merkel

Sheila C. Bair

Indra K. Nooyi

Angela Braly

Cynthia Carroll

Irene B. Rosenfeld

Condoleezza Rice

Ho Ching

Anne Lauvergeon

Anne Mulcahy

《福布斯》杂志于本周三公布全球最具影响力的女性。德国总理安吉拉•默克尔连续第三年荣登该榜榜首。

美国国务卿康德莉扎•赖斯从去年的第四位下滑至今年的第七位。美国前第一夫人、民主党总统竞选人希拉里•克林顿则下滑三位，跌至第28位。

亚军得主为知名度稍逊的美国联邦存款保险公司（FDIC）总裁希拉•拜尔。美国联邦存款保险公司的主要职能是“通过存款保险、监管金融机构和破产管理来维持全美金融体系的稳定和公众信心”。

美国软饮料巨头百事可乐公司的首席执行官英德拉•努伊名列第三。在今年的《福布斯》“女强人”排行榜上，共有54位企业主管和23位政界人士。

其中，阿根廷总统克里斯蒂娜•基什内尔名列第十三位。

其他上榜的女强人包括法国经济、财政、就业部部长克里斯汀•拉格尔德（第14位），印度国民大会党主席、意大利人索尼娅•甘迪（第21位）和约旦王后拉尼娅（第96位）。

跻身前十位的女强人中有六位是美国人，其他四位分别来自德国、澳大利亚、新加坡和法国。

中国共有四位女性精英入选，她们是：SOHO中国联合创始人兼CEO张欣（68位）、海尔集团总裁杨绵绵（70位）、安利大中华及东南亚地区首席执行官郑李锦芬（88位）以及摩根大通中国证券市场部总监李晶（95位）。

《福布斯》女强人排行榜前十位：

安吉拉·默克尔

希拉·拜尔

英德拉•努伊

安吉拉·布莱莉（美国健康保险公司WellPoint执行长）

辛西娅·卡洛尔（英国金融机构英美资源集团执行长）

艾瑞妮·罗森费（美国食品公司克拉夫特食品执行长）

康德莉扎•赖斯

何晶（新加坡淡马锡控股公司执行长）

安妮·罗维格（法国核工业公司艾尔瓦执行长）

安妮·马尔卡希（美国全录公司执行长）

Vocabulary:

the likes of: 像……这样的人或事物

receivership:破产管理