The erosion in wealth is likely to reduce the number of Indian billionaires as well.
Global economic woes seem to have eroded the fortunes of the wealthiest in China as the country has fewer billionaires now — in fact lesser by over 50 per cent — in the latest Forbes list.
According to the US publication Forbes, the number of billionaires this year are just 24 compared with 66 in 2007.
“The combined net worth of the 400 richest dropped to 173 billion dollars from 288 billion dollars. The top 40 lost 68 billion dollars, or 57 per cent. The minimum net worth slipped 20 million dollars to 180 million dollars,” the magazine said in an accompanying report.
Forbes added that the losses would have been greater if it had not been for the Chinese currency renminbi’s 10 per cent appreciation against the dollar.
The erosion in wealth is likely to reduce the number of Indian billionaires as well when the magazine comes out with its rich list for India, possibly next month.
This year’s list of richest Chinese people is topped by 60-year old Liu Yongzing of East Hope Group with a net worth of $3 billion. Gome Electrical Appliances’ Wong Kwong Yu ($2.7 billion) is at the second spot and real estate heiress Yang Huiyan of Country Garden ($2.2 billion) is at the third place.
New Hope Group's Liu Yonghao ($2.2 billion) and Metersbonwe's Zhou Chengjian & family (($2 billion) are placed at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
“Property has led the downturn as the government tightens credit to counter a bubble and prices have started to fall. But it is not the only sector hurting. The US slowdown, combined with the appreciation of the renminbi and a draconian, socialist-style labour law that took effect this year, have further taken the wind out of manufacturing, especially in export hubs such as Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces,” the report pointed out.
According to the magazine, the 27-year old Yang Huiyan, who topped the rich list in 2007, is the biggest loser this year. Her net worth has declined by $14 billion to $2.2 billion, moving her to the third spot.
“The Year of the Rat has been a rough one for China’s richest, with fortunes being dragged down amid a 60 per cent plunge in mainland stocks and a 50 per cent drop in Hong Kong shares in 2008,” the magazine pointed out.
However, a few tycoons defied the downward trend. These included Liu Yongxing, whose agricultural feed business has fared well lately, helping him top the latest list.
“The biggest gainer was Zhou Chengjian, who climbed 351 ranks to the fifth spot, worth $2 billion, after he successfully listed his trendy apparel company, Shanghai Metersbonwe Fashion & Accessories, in August,” Forbes noted.
Net worths of people with publicly traded fortunes were calculated using stock prices and exchange rates as on October 17.
“One exception: We knocked Citic Pacific's Larry Yung’s net worth down by $550 million to reflect the company’s dramatic 55 per cent stock drop the following week. For members whose companies are listed in both mainland China and Hong Kong, we mostly valued their holdings using prices from Hong Kong’s relatively open market,” the magazine said.
Privately-held fortunes were valued at book value or by coupling estimates of revenues, profits or book value to prevailing ratios for similarly publicly-traded companies.
“To facilitate comparisons of success among businesspeople with similar backgrounds, we include a few entrepreneurs born in mainland China whose current citizenship is not with the People's Republic of China but whose main source of wealth and/or residence is the mainland,” Forbes said.
