China had added 30% more billionaires in 2019 despite the ongoing trade dispute with the US and slowing domestic GDP growth, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2020 report.
In 2019, the Asian country had reached 799 in total, compared the US which reported 626 billionaires.
“China today has more billionaires than the US and India combined,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Shanghai-based Hurun Report.
“A boom in tech valuations and strong stock markets across China, the US, and India propelled the billionaires to record heights.”
Wealth
The combined wealth of the Chinese billionaires is $2.6trn (£2.01trn, €2.37trn), equivalent to 3% of global GDP.
Real estate billionaires led the list at 152, followed by manufacturing (149) and telecommunication, media and technology (106).
Jack Ma Yun of Alibaba is the richest man in China, leading with $45bn, just ahead of Pony Ma Huateng of Tencent ($44bn), followed by Xu Jiayin of Evergrande ($33bn).
China’s manufacturing and services sectors have been hit by the fight against the coronovirus epidemic, and most analysts expect a fall in GDP in the first quarter.
But Hoogewerf was optimistic. “Despite a sell-off on the first day after stock markets reopened after Chinese New Year on the back of coronavirus, China’s stock market has rallied by 14% since last year’s list”, he said, referring to the CSI 300, comprised of A-shares.
Furthermore, the coronovirus epidemic has pushed up stocks of Chinese online education, online games and pharmaceutical companies manufacturing vaccines, according to the report.
Billionaire cities
Among all the cities, Beijing is the world’s billionaire capital for the fifth year running; with 110 billionaires living there, ahead of New York with 98.
Top five cities with most billionaires
| 2019 | 2020 |
| Beijing (103) | Beijing (110) |
| New York (92) | New York (98) |
| Hong Kong (69) | Shanghai (83) |
| Shenzhen (67) | Hong Kong (76) |
| Shanghai (66) | Shenzhen (75) |
Source: Hurun Global Rich List 2019 and 2020
Globally, the number of billionaires increased 14% to 2,816, which includes 479 new faces, according to the report.
While Hurun has identified nearly 3,000 billionaires globally, Hoogewerf believes that the number should be double.
“Assuming that for everyone that we found, we have probably missed at least one if not more, particularly from the Gulf states.
“We have found 626 billionaires in the US, for example, suggesting the true number should be at least double that, perhaps as many as 1,500. In China, we have found 800 but the actual number should be closer to 2,000,” he added.
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