AFP, Beijing :
China’s ultra wealthy saw their ranks thinned this year as the trade war with the US pummelled stocks and shredded billions of dollars of paper wealth, a survey showed Wednesday.
The number of Chinese, or China-based magnates, with a net worth over 2 billion yuan ($290 million) fell by 237 to 1,893 individuals this year, according to the annual ranking compiled by Shanghai-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun Report.
More than half of the richest Chinese saw their wealth shrink or remain unchanged during the year, the survey showed, while a record number of individuals were knocked from the rankings.
A 20 percent drop in the stock exchange, “on the back of a slowing economy and the US-China trade war, resulted in 456 drop-offs this year, the highest since records began twenty years ago,” said Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf.
Gone from the list are chemical industry magnate Zhu Shuangquan, lighting titan Zhang Yutao and electric components makers Zhong Xiaoping and wife Liu Qiuxiang, all of whom have seen their companies’ share prices sink this year.
The manufacturing sector has been hit particularly hard by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on roughly half of China’s imports – and the proportion of those with fortunes made in the sector fell to 26.1 percent from 27.9 percent last year.
While the world’s second largest economy still boasts the most dollar billionaires of any country in the world, their ranks were thinned to 620 people, according to Hurun.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma, on the other hand, saw his fortunes improve, retaking the mantle of China’s richest from real estate mogul Xu Jiayin, who dropped to number two.
Ma’s wealth shot up to $39 billion as his large stake in Ant Financial, operator of the world’s largest money market fund and a mobile payment goliath, saw its valuation rise.
His endeavours also boosted the fortunes of 13 others who made the rich list on his coattails.
China’s ultra wealthy saw their ranks thinned this year as the trade war with the US pummelled stocks and shredded billions of dollars of paper wealth, a survey showed Wednesday.
The number of Chinese, or China-based magnates, with a net worth over 2 billion yuan ($290 million) fell by 237 to 1,893 individuals this year, according to the annual ranking compiled by Shanghai-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun Report.
More than half of the richest Chinese saw their wealth shrink or remain unchanged during the year, the survey showed, while a record number of individuals were knocked from the rankings.
A 20 percent drop in the stock exchange, “on the back of a slowing economy and the US-China trade war, resulted in 456 drop-offs this year, the highest since records began twenty years ago,” said Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf.
Gone from the list are chemical industry magnate Zhu Shuangquan, lighting titan Zhang Yutao and electric components makers Zhong Xiaoping and wife Liu Qiuxiang, all of whom have seen their companies’ share prices sink this year.
The manufacturing sector has been hit particularly hard by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on roughly half of China’s imports – and the proportion of those with fortunes made in the sector fell to 26.1 percent from 27.9 percent last year.
While the world’s second largest economy still boasts the most dollar billionaires of any country in the world, their ranks were thinned to 620 people, according to Hurun.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma, on the other hand, saw his fortunes improve, retaking the mantle of China’s richest from real estate mogul Xu Jiayin, who dropped to number two.
Ma’s wealth shot up to $39 billion as his large stake in Ant Financial, operator of the world’s largest money market fund and a mobile payment goliath, saw its valuation rise.
His endeavours also boosted the fortunes of 13 others who made the rich list on his coattails.
