China has witnessed a significant decline in the number of dollar billionaires by more than a third over the past three years, according to the list of the wealthy prepared by the Hurun Group, and the details of which were published by the Financial Times.
According to the data, the number of Chinese billionaires peaked at 1,185 billionaires in 2021, and has now declined to only 753 people. This percentage represents a decline of 36%, which is much greater than the 10% decline in the value of the Chinese yuan (renminbi) against the dollar during the same period, and this indicates deeper effects than mere currency fluctuations.
Last year alone, the number of billionaires fell by 16%, even though the yuan fell by only 2.5% against the dollar, highlighting their great vulnerability to the economic slowdown.
This year, Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, which owns the famous short video application TikTok, and his Chinese counterpart Douyin were able to top the list of the wealthy in China for the first time with a wealth estimated at about $49 billion, rising from fourth place to the top.
Despite the obstacles facing his company ByteDance in the United States, as the US government seeks to restrict its activity there, Zhang succeeded in building his huge fortune thanks to the growing popularity of the TikTok application globally, and this made him surpass his traditional competitors.
Among them is Zhong Shanshan, owner of Nongfu Spring Bottled Water Company, who fell to second place after his company was facing popular pressure on social media accusing it of being biased towards Japan, and this led to a decline in the value of the company’s shares by about 40%.
A shift in the nature of the rich list
The list of wealthy people in China reflects a noticeable change in the nature of wealthy people, as the list of traditional wealthy people, especially real estate developers, began to decline due to the collapse of the Chinese real estate market, which was previously thriving.
On the other hand, entrepreneurs emerged in the technology and renewable energy sectors, such as Pony Ma, founder of Tencent, who ranked third with a fortune of $44.4 billion, while Colin Huang, founder of the e-commerce company Pinduoduo, came in fourth place with a fortune estimated at $34.5 billion. dollar.
It is noteworthy that some of the new billionaires from the rising generation in China have a more international outlook than their predecessors, according to the Financial Times, as they seek to expand their activities beyond borders, especially in light of the increasing competition in local markets.
For example, Chris Xu Yangtian, founder of the global fashion platform Shein, ranked 76th with a fortune of $7 billion, while a number of Chinese billionaires continue to choose Hong Kong and Singapore as havens for investments.
Economic and political repercussions
According to the newspaper, the list is an indication of the challenges facing the wealthy in China amid economic and political changes.
Robert Hoogorff, Chairman of the Hurun Group, stated that the list of Chinese wealthy people witnessed a decline for the third year in a row, which is unprecedented, as a result of the weak performance of the Chinese financial markets and the restrictions imposed on some sectors.
This decline coincided with the shrinkage of the fortunes of previously thriving sectors such as real estate and the renewable energy sector, including manufacturers of solar batteries and electric vehicles, which witnessed increasing competition.
