China’s super wealthy have earned a record US$1.5 trillion this year, more than the past five years combined, as e-commerce and gaming boomed during pandemic lockdowns, an annual rich list said yesterday.
An extra 257 people also joined the billionaires club in the world’s No. 2 economy by August, following two years of shrinking membership, according to the closely watched Hurun Report.
The country now has a total of 878 billionaires.
The US had 626 people in the top bracket at the start of the year, Hurun said in its February global list.
The report found that there were about 2,000 individuals with a net worth of more than 2 billion yuan (US$299 million at the current exchange rate) in August, giving them a combined net worth of US$4 trillion.
Jack Ma (馬雲), founder of e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), once again topped the list after his wealth surged 45 percent to US$58.8 billion as online shopping firms saw a surge in business owing to people being shut indoors for months during strict lockdowns to contain COVID-19.
He was followed by Pony Ma (馬化騰) (US$57.4 billion), boss of gaming giant and WeChat-owner Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), who made an extra 50 percent, despite concerns about his firm’s US outlook after it was threatened with bans there over national security fears.
First-time list member Zhong Shanshan (鍾睒睒), 66, best-known for his bottled water brand Nongfu Nongfu Spring Co (農夫山泉), parachuted into third spot with US$53.7 billion after a Hong Kong initial public offering last month, the report found.
“The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year,” Hurun Report chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said in a statement.
China is “moving away from traditional sectors like manufacturing and real estate, towards the new economy,” he added.
Wang Xing (王興), founder of food delivery app Meituan Dianping (美團點評), quadrupled his wealth and jumped 52 places to 13th in the list with US$25 billion, while Richard Liu (劉強東), the founder of online shopping platform JD.com Inc (京東) doubled his money pile to US$23.5 billion.
Healthcare entrepreneurs also moved up the list on the back of the pandemic, with Jiang Rensheng (蔣仁生), founder of vaccine-maker Zhifei Biological Products Co Ltd (智飛), tripling his wealth to US$19.9 billion.
China shut down major cities across the country in late January and February to contain the novel coronavirus, causing an unprecedented economic contraction in the first quarter.
However, with infections appearing to be under control, the country is on track to become the only major economy to expand this year, the IMF has said.
On Monday, data showed that the Chinese economy expanded 4.9 percent in the third quarter, but away from the glittering figures as many ordinary workers and fresh graduates are struggling to find jobs.
The urban unemployment rate inched down to 5.4 percent last month, although analysts have warned of higher unemployment than officially reported this year.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS