BEIJING -- China's booming stock markets are creating a new elite class of the superrich, giving the country more billionaires than any country in the world except the United States.
The dramatic rise of Chinese share prices, combined with surging property values, has fuelled a remarkable sevenfold increase in the number of billionaires in the country over the past year.
An annual list of China's richest people, compiled by researcher Rupert Hoogewerf, says there are 106 dollar-billionaires, up from 15 on last year's list and none in 2002. And the average wealth of the richest tycoons has doubled to $562-million (U.S.) over the past year.
The two richest people are women.
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Yang Huiyan, the 26-year-old daughter of property tycoon Yang Guoqiang, is at the top of the list with an estimated $17.5-billion after her father transferred his shares in his company to her.
Zhang Yin, the 50-year-old owner of Nine Dragons Paper Co., ranks second on the list with $10-billion in wealth.
She is the richest self-made woman in the world, according to the report released yesterday.
"With the Beijing Olympics now only a year away, there is a huge surge of confidence exuding from China's top entrepreneurs, whose wealth is growing much faster than GDP," Mr. Hoogewerf wrote in his report.
"The economic landscape is comparable to the U.S. in the 1960s when vast areas of the economy were wide open to be exploited by smart, ruthless and fast-moving entrepreneurs. The rich in China are growing much faster than their Western counterparts."
This year has represented a "coming of age" for China in terms of personal wealth creation, he said.
"China's richest have reaped windfalls from a sharp hike in property prices and the burgeoning Chinese stock markets. However, there is still plenty of growth opportunity as China's top entrepreneurs turn their sights to the vast undeveloped and largely unregulated economic hinterland."
In his report, Mr. Hoogewerf lists every Chinese entrepreneur with a fortune greater than 800 million yuan ($105-million). Last year, he found 500 people whose wealth was above this threshold. This year the number jumped 60 per cent, with 800 people meeting the minimum requirement. The total wealth of the top 800 is $457-billion, he said. (The list does not include Hong Kong entrepreneurs.)
Property development is the biggest creator of private wealth in China, followed by manufacturing, the report said. Of the top 20 people on the list, 13 are primarily in the real estate business. Of the top 800 people, almost one-quarter said property was one of their key industries.
Ms. Yang's company, Country Garden Holdings Ltd., is typical of the property developers. The company churns out middle-class homes in southern China, and it controls a vast bank of land, estimated at 45 million square metres.
A report this week by Forbes magazine confirmed that Ms. Yang is the richest person in China, although it gave a slightly lower estimate of her wealth - about $16.2-billion.
China's booming stock markets are a key factor in the sharp rise in wealth, Mr. Hoogewerf said. Many of the richest people saw their wealth soaring as a result of higher share values. Nine of the 10 wealthiest people are owners of listed companies.
Ms. Zhang's wealth, for example, has tripled in the past year because of a dramatic rise in the value of her company's shares. And Ms. Yang's company has seen its stock price double since its initial public offering on the Hong Kong exchange in April.
Of the 800 richest people, 65 are women, and 67 are under the age of 40.
Political connections are still useful. About one-third of the richest Chinese tycoons are members of the Communist Party, and about 5 per cent are members of the National People's Congress (the national parliament), according to the report.
Meet China's new lions
2. Zhang Yin
Age: 50
Fortune: $10-billion
Business: Nine Dragons Paper Co.
3. Xu Rongmao
Age: 57
Fortune: $7.5-billion
Business: Furniture and property
4. Huang Guangyu
Age: 38
Fortune: $6-billion
Business: Electronics
5. Zhang Li
Age: 54
Fortune: $5.5-billion
Business: Property1. Yang Huiyan
Age: 26
Fortune: $17.5-billion (U.S.)
Business: Real estate
Source: Hurun report, AP
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