During the past 15 years since "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was first published in China in 1997, J.K. Rowling and her "Harry Potter" series has no doubt become the best-known foreign name in Chinese mainland book market.

This year, the British female novelist again proved her writing power by earning 15 million yuan (US$2.41 million) royalty income in Chinese market, making her the most marketable foreign writer in China of 2012, according to a sub-list of the China's Richest Writers 2012 rankings released Wednesday by Huaxi Metropolitan Daily.

This is the second time J.K. Rowling was named the most popular foreign writer in the country. In 2010, Rowling topped the ranking with a record royalty income of 95 million yuan (US$15.276 million).

In the 2012 list, last year's winner Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude", fell to second place. Walter Isaacson, the writer of the biography "Steve Jobs", edged himself into the top three for the first time.

According to the newspaper, the annual list is based on the foreign writers' royalty revenues in the Chinese mainland from November 2011 to November 2012. The list has been compiled by Wu Huaiyao, a literature enthusiast, on a yearly basis since 2006.

The following are this year's top 10 most popular foreign writers in China according to the sub-list of the China's Richest Writers 2012:

   Kazuo Inamori (稻盛和夫)

 Royalty income: 1.5 million yuan (US$241,200)

Bestseller: "The Principles to Living" series 《活法》

Country: Japan

Age: 80

2011 Ranking: 12

Kazuo Inamori, born in 1932 in Kagoshima Prefecture, is a Japanese entrepreneur and the founder of two Global Fortune 500 companies: Kyocera Corporation and KDDI Corporation. Known as one of the four Japanese sages in management, Inamori graduated from Kagoshima University in 1955 with a B.S. in Applied Chemistry. At the age of 78, he became the chairman of Japan Airlines, which went bankrupt in January 2010, aiming to help reshape the debt-ridden company.

Among Inamori's over 20 books, "The Principles to Living" series and "The Principles of Working" are his most popular works in China. Acclaimed as Japan's top self-help book in the 21st century, his four-book series "The Principles to Living" was based on his personal experience, and presents his reflections, insights and outlook on life, including his formula for success for both enterprises and individuals.