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China has 130 billionaires: report
Agence France Presse - October 13, 2009
Car battery tycoon Wang Chuanfu topped a new list of China's 1000 richest people released today, which has 130 dollar billionaires in an emphatic declaration of the Asian giant's economic arrival.
Most of the super-wealthy on the Hurun Rich List, unlike Wang, made their fortunes in the property and stock markets – the focus of Beijing's massive government stimulus efforts over the past year.
China's wealth is growing at breakneck speed," Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder of the Shanghai-based Hurun Report which publishes the annual list, told a press conference.
"You can double the real number of billionaires in China to 260. There are still a large number of billionaires off the radar screens, managing to build up substantial wealth away from the public spotlight from property, the stock market and investments."
Wang, the founder of rechargeable battery and electric car maker BYD, leapt 102 places to top the rich list after his fortune increased more than five-fold to $US5.1 billion ($A5.62 billion), said Hoogewerf.
The rich list gained 180 new members – despite the entry criteria for the latest list rising by 50 per cent to $US150 million ($A165.42 million).
Seven people moved into the top 10, in the biggest shake-up since the report started publishing the rich list in 1999. Last year's richest man, Huang Guangyu, who made his fortune building up the nation's largest electrical appliance chain Gome, slipped to the 17th spot after he was detained late last year on suspicion of market manipulation.
Du Shuanghua, last year's second-richest person, plunged 39 places to 41 as he battled a state-owned company for control of Shandong-based private steel manufacturer Rizhao Steel.
"Since our 2004 list, we have seen a ten-fold increase in the number of individuals with personal wealth of at least $US150 million ($A165.42 million)," said Hoogewerf.
"In 2004, we could only find 100 individuals with 150 million, whereas this year, we managed to find 1,000 individuals with 150 million."
Rebounding capital markets and property prices pushed the collective net worth of the 1,000 richest people in China to $US571 billion ($A629.69 billion) by September 15 of this year, from $US439 billion ($A484.12 billion) last year, the report found.
Zhang Yin, the woman who founded paper-recycling company Nine Dragons Paper and China's richest person in 2006, was in second place. Zhang was one of 102 women on the list – up from 88 last year and accounting for 10.2 per cent of the total.
"Significantly, all are self-made, a remarkably high percentage compared with their Western counterparts. Chinese women now lead the world's richest self-made women," the report said.
Among the new people in the top 10 were husband and wife Huang Wei and Li Ping, who shot up 23 spots to fifth place through their 71 per cent stake in Shanghai-listed property developer Xinhu Zhongbao.
Shares in Xinhu Zhongbao had surged 265 per cent to 12.5 yuan in early September from 4.7 yuan a year ago, the report said, reflecting strong gains in the Chinese stock market.
Zhongwang Holdings chairman Liu Zhongtian moved into 10th place with $US4.1 billion ($A4.52 billion) after the aluminium manufacturer raised $US1.3 billion ($A1.43 billion) through an initial public offering earlier this year.
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