The number of millionaires and ultra-millionaires in China rose 3.8 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively last year from a year earlier.

The number of millionaires and ultra-millionaires in China rose 3.8 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively last year from a year earlier, according to this year’s wealth report from Hurun Research Institute. There are now 1,090,000 high net worth individuals and 67,000 UHNW persons in the world’s second-largest economy.

The institute has predicted that in the next three years the number of millionaires could reach 1,210,000 people, and similarly the number of super-rich could increase to 73,000.

Beijing, the capital, had the highest number of high net-worth individuals, followed by Guangdong, and Shanghai in third place. Tianjin had the fastest growth rate of millionaires and super-rich, it said in a report late last week.

The report divides millionaires into four categories: private business owners, professional stock market investors, real estate investors and high-salaried executives.

The number of professional stock market investors decreased, whereas private business owners increased by 5 per cent. Chinese super-rich can be divided into three categories: private business owners, real estate investors and professional stock market investors.

This is the sixth edition of the Hurun Wealth Report.  

Last year, the Chinese economy saw GDP growth of 7.7 per cent. According to the China Index Research Institute’s figures, the annual house price has increased by 11.5 per cent, the top tier cities’ annual house prices increased by 24 per cent; second and third tier cities’ annual house prices increased by 6.9 per cent. During the same period of time, the Shanghai Stock Index fell by 11 per cent.

Millionaires

At the end of 2013, the number of millionaires (defined as individuals with personal wealth of RMB10 million, equivalent to $1.6 million and £1 million) in China’s 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, apart from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan reached 1,090,000 - an increase of 40,000 from the previous year.

Among those figures the number of super-rich (defined as individuals with personal wealth of RMB100 million, equivalent to $16 million and £10 million) has already reached 67,000, an increase of 2,500 people within the last year.

The number of millionaires in Beijing this year has increased by 8,000 in comparison to last year, reaching 192,000.

Furthermore, there are 600 UHNW more individuals than a year earlier, with 11,300 overall, the highest in the whole country. Guangdong was second overall, with 180,000 millionaires and 10,000 super-rich. Shanghai was third, with 159,000 multimillionaires and 9,100 super-rich. Apart from Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Shanxi, in all the other provinces and cities the number of millionaires has increased.