According to a “rich list” put out by the research organization Hurun, the number of dollar billionaires in China has decreased by more than a third in the last three years as a result of government crackdowns, economic hardship in certain areas, and sluggish stock markets.
Hurun claimed that after reaching a peak of 1,185 in 2021, there are now just 753 dollar billionaires, a 36% decrease that is more than the 10% drop in the value of the renminbi relative to the dollar during the same time frame.
Even though the yuan only depreciated 2.5% against the dollar in the last year, the number of dollar millionaires in China fell by 16%.
Hurun added that there has been a lot of turnover on the list, with newer members like Zhang Yiming, the president of ByteDance, replacing more established businesspeople like real estate developers.
Hurun claimed that despite the US government targeting his company, the 41-year-old founder of the company that controls the popular short-video platform TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin has become the richest person in the country for the first time, with a fortune of $49 billion.
China’s 10 richest billionaires
| Rank | Name | Wealth | Change | 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 family | $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 family | $24.6bn | +9% | Henderson Land | 96 |
| 10 | Jack Ma and family | $23.2bn | -3% | Alibaba | 60 |
Zhong Shanshan, the “bottled water king,” was overthrown by Zhang. The 70-year-old had been at the top of the list for the previous three years, but after being accused of being “pro-Japan” on social media, his primary company, Nongfu Spring, witnessed a 40% decline in share price.
Taiwanese, Macau, and Hong Kong businesspeople were also on the rich list.
According to Hurun Report chair Rupert Hoogewerf, the “list has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year.”
A significant market rebound in September following China’s announcement of a monetary stimulus program was not factored into the list’s fortune estimations, which were made at the end of August.
The decline in the number of super-rich coincides with the demise of China’s once-thriving real estate market, which has severely damaged the old guard of affluent real estate developers.
booming property market.
Despite being severely impacted by crackdowns, China’s e-commerce billionaires have shown greater resilience. Colin Huang, the creator of Pinduoduo and Temu, came in fourth on the list, followed by Pony Ma, the founder of Tencent, the company that created the popular superapp WeChat, in third place.
With $7 billion in wealth, Chris Xu Yangtian, the creator of the global apparel marketplace Shein, came in at number 76.
According to Hurun’s assessment, “China’s new generation of entrepreneurs are much more international than their predecessors.”
This year, Alibaba’s Jack Ma, who was ranked first in 2020 but vanished from the public eye when the government canceled his financial business Alipay’s historic IPO, came in at number ten.
According to Hurun, 30 members of the rich list resided in the US and Singapore, with the Asian city-state growing in popularity as an offshore haven for China’s billionaires, while 15% of the list lived outside of mainland China in places like Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan.
With over 7% of them holding seats in China’s rubber-stamped parliament, the National People’s Congress, or its highest political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the richlisters also maintained their political clout.
Smartphones and new energy entrepreneurs, such as Frank Wang from drone manufacturer DJI, Li Zhenguo from solar panel manufacturer Longi, Lei Jun from smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, and Robin Zeng, head of lithium battery manufacturer CATL, were also more prevalent on the list than they were ten years earlier.
