Chinese billionaires 'get poorer'

A list recently released by Hurun magazine shows that the number of rich Chinese people has dropped sharply in the past year, partly due to the real estate crisis.

Hurun magazine (Shanghai, China) on October 24 announced the list of China's richest people. Accordingly, the number of people with assets of over 5 billion yuan (690 million USD) in this country has decreased by 15% compared to the peak in 2021.

This year's list has 1,241 people. Their total wealth also fell 4% from last year, to $3.2 trillion. About 898 individuals saw their wealth decrease or stay the same. Hurun said this reflects the impact of the real estate crisis and increased competition in the e-commerce industry.

179 individuals dropped out of the Hurun China Rich List this year, of which 15% were from the real estate sector. The sector has been in crisis for the past two years and has shown no significant signs of recovery.

Wang Jianlin - founder of real estate company Dalian Wanda Group. Photo: Reuters — Wang Jianlin - founder of real estate company Dalian Wanda Group. Photo: *Reuters*

"The number of USD billionaires in China has decreased by 52 people in one year and 290 people in two years. However, China is still the place with the most billionaires in the world , with 895 individuals, about 200 more than the US and nearly 3 times more than India," said Rupert Hoogeweft - chairman of Hurun.

This year, Nongfu Spring bottled water boss Zhong Shanshan was China's richest person for the third year in a row, with a fortune of $62 billion, followed by Tencent's Ma Huateng with $38.6 billion.

Real estate billionaires were hit hardest this year. Wang Jianlin, founder of real estate giant Dalian Wanda Group, lost the most on the list, losing $7.3 billion. He fell 57 places to 89th with $6.4 billion. Wang was once China's richest man.

China Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan ranked 268th this year. Hui Ka Yan is under investigation for suspected "illegal conduct," Evergrande announced last month.

The biggest gainer this year was Colin Huang, founder of low-cost e-commerce company Pinduoduo. He added $13.8 billion to his fortune in the past year, making him China’s third-richest person with $37.2 billion, a first for him.

Meanwhile, Alibaba founder Jack Ma dropped one place to 10th this year. The number of Alibaba shareholders on the list is also only 12, instead of 18 like last year.

Richard Liu, founder of e-commerce company JD.com, also saw his assets fall by $6.2 billion to $8.26 billion. The company's shares hit a record low earlier this month after banks lowered their price target forecasts due to a weaker-than-expected recovery in consumer spending.

Ha Thu (according to Nikkei Asia, Reuters)

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