China Millionaires

“The rise of China, if it continues, may be the most important trend in the world for the next century.” The latest Hurun Report on China has bombshell figures revealing the number of millionaires in Beijing. According to the report, (hold your breath) there are 143,000 multimillionaires and 8,800 billionaires in Beijing. Shanghai has 116,000 multimillionaires and 7,000 billionaires. Beijing’s elite not only spends at least 87 million yuan on property, cars and other luxury goods but have the taste for luxury brands like Cartier and Louis Vuitton. They own at least three dwellings of their own, including a villa, like the 400-sq-m Ziyu Shanzhuang villa costing 24 million yuan, a luxury apartment in the downtown area for work purposes, and a Siheyuan courtyard house probably in Houhai.

According to the Hurun 2009 Wealth Report released in April 2009, China has 825,000 individuals with personal wealth of more than 10 million yuan (GBP 1 million or USD 1.46 million) and 51,000 individuals with more than 100 million yuan. Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai are home to the lion’s share of the rich, accounting for 48% of millionaires in Mainland China. Beijing tops the list with 143,000 individuals with more than 10 million yuan and 8,800 individuals with more than 100 million yuan. Second is Guangdong Province with 137,000, followed by Shanghai with 116,000 and Zhejiang Province with 110,500 millionaires.

So where are you now on the list?