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China loses third of its billionaires as economy falters


The number of China’s dollar billionaires has fallen by more than a third in the history three years, according to a “wealthy list” compiled by research throng Hurun, as government crackdowns, weakness in parts of the economy and depressed stake markets receive their toll.

Since hitting a peak of 1,185 in 2021, Hurun said the number of dollar billionaires had been reduced to 753, with the 36 per cent decline exceeding a 10 per cent fall in the renminbi’s worth against the dollar over the same period.

In the history year alone, the number of dollar billionaires in China declined by 16 per cent, when the renminbi depreciated only 2.5 per cent against the dollar.

The list has also undergone rapid churn, Hurun said, with older entrepreneurs such as property developers making way for newer members such as Zhang Yiming, head of ByteDance.

The 41-year-ancient founder of the corporation that owns viral short-video platform TikTok and its Chinese equivalent Douyin has for the first period become the country’s richest person, with a fortune of $49bn, Hurun said, despite his corporation being targeted by the US government.

China’s 10 richest billionaires
Rank Name riches transformation Business Age
1↑ Zhang Yiming $49.3bn +43% ByteDance 41
2↓ Zhong Shanshan $47.9bn -24% YST (Nongfu Spring) 70
3↓ Pony Ma $44.4bn +13% Tencent 53
4↓ Colin Huang $34.5bn -9% Pinduoduo 44
5↑ He Xiangjian and household $33.1bn +18% Midea 82
6↓ Robin Zeng $28.2bn -20% CATL 56
6- William Ding $28.2bn -17% NetEase 53
6↑ Li Ka-shing and Victor Li $28.2bn -5% Cheung Kong 96, 60
9* Lee Shau Kee and household $24.6bn +9% Henderson Land 96
10- Jack Ma and household $23.2bn -3% Alibaba 60
Source: Hurun Research Institute

Zhang deposed “bottled water king” Zhong Shanshan. The 70-year-ancient had topped the list for the history three years, but his main business Nongfu Spring saw its distribute worth drop 40 per cent after being accused on social media of being “pro-Japan”.

The wealthy list also included Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwanese entrepreneurs.

The “list has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and distribute markets had a challenging year”, said Rupert Hoogewerf, chair of the Hurun update.

The list’s estimates of fortunes were made at the complete of August and do not account for a sharp distribute rally in September after China announced a monetary stimulus package.

The downturn in the number of super-wealthy comes as the ancient guard of wealthy real estate developers has been decimated by a collapse in China’s once-booming property trade.

Column chart of Number of dollar billionaires showing China’s billionaires are on the decline

China’s ecommerce billionaires have been badly hit by crackdowns but have proven more resilient. Pony Ma, the founder of Tencent, the corporation behind the ubiquitous superapp WeChat, ranked third on the list, and Colin Huang, the founder of Pinduoduo and Temu, was fourth.

Chris Xu Yangtian, founder of international clothing platform Shein, was ranked 76th with $7bn in riches.

“The recent creation of entrepreneurs in China are much more international than their predecessors,” Hurun said in the update.

Alibaba’s Jack Ma, who topped the list in 2020 but disappeared from community view that year after the government cancelled the blockbuster initial stock launch of his monetary throng Alipay, was ranked 10th this year.

Hurun said 15 per cent of the wealthy list lived outside mainland China, in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan, while 30 members lived in the US and Singapore, with the Asian city-state becoming increasingly popular as an offshore haven for China’s billionaires.

The richlisters also retained political influence, with about 7 per cent being members of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, or its rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress.

Smartphones and recent-vigor entrepreneurs were also more prominent on the list than 10 years ago, including Robin Zeng, head of lithium battery maker CATL, Li Zhenguo of solar-panel maker Longi, Lei Jun of smartphone maker Xiaomi and Frank Wang from drone maker DJI.



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