October 15, 2015 – China has more billionaires than the U.S., according to one new account, thanks to a go-go stock market and a rising wave of tech entrepreneurs.
Shanghai-based research firm Hurun Report said in its annual China wealth report released today that mainland China is now home to 596 billionaires in dollar terms, compared with 537 in the U.S. If Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are included, the count from China rises to 715.
Hurun said this year has seen the fastest growth in Chinese wealth creation since the index started 17 years ago.
Credit for the rise, which comes despite China’s economic slowdown, goes to the country’s stock market, which has stumbled badly since June but is still considerably higher than last year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index is up roughly 41% compared with a year ago. Still, those fortunes could have been higher, the index was up about 60% in June from the start of the year before slumping. Hurun’s data are current as of Aug. 14, it said, meaning the survey doesn’t take into account a late August slump, though the firm said the drop wouldn’t significantly change the list.
Hurun also cited the rising number of technology entrepreneurs who have enjoyed a wave of investor interest in growing fields like apps and online-to-offline services. They include Zhou Qunfei, founder of Lens Technology, which makes touchscreen panels for gadgets like smartphones. It listed her fortune as $7.8 billion.
It also includes Cheng Wei, chief executive of ride-hailing app provider Didi Kuaidi Joint Co., which is ramping up competition with Uber Technologies in China, a market that they both see as the future of rides. Hurun listed Mr. Cheng’s fortune at $1 billion. He was listed as one of the youngest on the list, at 32 years old. Another young billionaire was Frank Wang, the 35-year-old founder and chief executive of drone maker SZ DJI Technology, with an estimated fortune of $3.4 billion.
In all, the number of people on the list from the technology business was up 43%, Hurun said.
Technology couldn’t power a tech entrepreneur to the top of the list, however. As Hurun said in August, property-and-retail magnate Wang Jianlin remains China’s richest person, supplanting Alibaba Group Holding’s Jack Ma.