Wealth drops for majority of ultra-rich on mainland
By Lu Nengneng |
October 13, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BEVERAGE tycoon Zong Qinghou, 67, has consolidated his position as the richest man on the Chinese mainland after topping the 2012 Forbes China Rich List released yesterday.
The chairman and CEO of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, who also was named the wealthiest mainlander by the Hurun Research Institute last month, is reckoned to have US$10 billion in personal assets by Forbes Magazine, US$3.5 billion more than last year, when he ranked fifth.
But in general, ultra-rich Chinese on the mainland saw their wealth drop amid the economic downturn, though not so quickly as the mainland stock market slumped, Forbes said.
Based on the stock and currency prices as of September 21, the combined fortune of the top 100 people on the rich list shrank 7 percent to US$220 billion from the figure of last year.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index, the benchmark of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, tumbled nearly 20 percent while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index plummeted more than 27 percent.
Many of the 400 people on the list have made their companies public. Following market turbulence worldwide, the cut-off point to make the list dropped 7.5 percent to US$4.7 billion.
Half of the top 10 have their companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, whose Hang Seng Index bucked the trend of China's economic slowdown, rising 6.8 percent since Forbes published its 2011 China Rich List.
Second in the latest wealth ranking is Robin Li, 43, founder and CEO of Baidu, which provides Internet search engine services. He lost his title as the wealthiest mainlander earlier this year after the company's share prices tumbled on the Nasdaq board in the US and his personal fortune shrank from US$10.2 billion to US$8.1 billion.
Not all billionaires in the information and technology industry are having a hard time. Pony Ma, 41, of online entertainment magnet Tencent, surged from the 13th to the fourth place with US$6.4 billion, up 46.7 percent from a year earlier. Jack Ma, 48, of e-commerce giant Alibaba, shot up from the 39th to 11th place with US$3.4 billion, 76 percent higher than last year.
"Some of the rich people on the list are losing wealth while others from the same industry are making more. That shows the uncertainty China's economy is facing when its expansion is slowing down," Zhou Jiangong, chief editor of Forbes China, said.
With his personal fortune almost doubling to US$8 billion, property tycoon Wang Jianlin, 58, moved up from the 15th to the third place on the list. His Dalian Wanda Group has been developing shopping malls across the country, capitalizing on the commercial real estate boom following tightening measures by the central government to put curbs on housing speculation.
But the general cooling of property construction has dragged down the share prices of heavy machinery maker Sany and sent its Chairman Liang Wengen down from last year's top spot with US$8.3 billion to this year's sixth place with US$5.9 billion.
Wu Yajun, 48, the richest woman on this year's list, also is in the real estate business. The co-founder of Longfor Properties and her husband rank 5th on the list with US$6.2 billion.
Other property developers in the top 10 include Hui Ka Yan, 54, of Evergrande Real Estate, eighth with US$4.9 billion, Yan Huiyan, 31, of Country Garden Holdings, ninth with US$4.4 billion, and Hui Wing Mau, 62, of Shimao Group, 10th with US$4 billion.
The chairman and CEO of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, who also was named the wealthiest mainlander by the Hurun Research Institute last month, is reckoned to have US$10 billion in personal assets by Forbes Magazine, US$3.5 billion more than last year, when he ranked fifth.
But in general, ultra-rich Chinese on the mainland saw their wealth drop amid the economic downturn, though not so quickly as the mainland stock market slumped, Forbes said.
Based on the stock and currency prices as of September 21, the combined fortune of the top 100 people on the rich list shrank 7 percent to US$220 billion from the figure of last year.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index, the benchmark of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, tumbled nearly 20 percent while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index plummeted more than 27 percent.
Many of the 400 people on the list have made their companies public. Following market turbulence worldwide, the cut-off point to make the list dropped 7.5 percent to US$4.7 billion.
Half of the top 10 have their companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, whose Hang Seng Index bucked the trend of China's economic slowdown, rising 6.8 percent since Forbes published its 2011 China Rich List.
Second in the latest wealth ranking is Robin Li, 43, founder and CEO of Baidu, which provides Internet search engine services. He lost his title as the wealthiest mainlander earlier this year after the company's share prices tumbled on the Nasdaq board in the US and his personal fortune shrank from US$10.2 billion to US$8.1 billion.
Not all billionaires in the information and technology industry are having a hard time. Pony Ma, 41, of online entertainment magnet Tencent, surged from the 13th to the fourth place with US$6.4 billion, up 46.7 percent from a year earlier. Jack Ma, 48, of e-commerce giant Alibaba, shot up from the 39th to 11th place with US$3.4 billion, 76 percent higher than last year.
"Some of the rich people on the list are losing wealth while others from the same industry are making more. That shows the uncertainty China's economy is facing when its expansion is slowing down," Zhou Jiangong, chief editor of Forbes China, said.
With his personal fortune almost doubling to US$8 billion, property tycoon Wang Jianlin, 58, moved up from the 15th to the third place on the list. His Dalian Wanda Group has been developing shopping malls across the country, capitalizing on the commercial real estate boom following tightening measures by the central government to put curbs on housing speculation.
But the general cooling of property construction has dragged down the share prices of heavy machinery maker Sany and sent its Chairman Liang Wengen down from last year's top spot with US$8.3 billion to this year's sixth place with US$5.9 billion.
Wu Yajun, 48, the richest woman on this year's list, also is in the real estate business. The co-founder of Longfor Properties and her husband rank 5th on the list with US$6.2 billion.
Other property developers in the top 10 include Hui Ka Yan, 54, of Evergrande Real Estate, eighth with US$4.9 billion, Yan Huiyan, 31, of Country Garden Holdings, ninth with US$4.4 billion, and Hui Wing Mau, 62, of Shimao Group, 10th with US$4 billion.
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