China’s economic growth made a quick recovery from 2008, but the 2009 Hurun Report shows that the forces driving wealth creation in China changed slightly. Some sectors produced more wealthy individuals than before, others fell behind. Following are analyses of selected sectors and introductions to some of the new faces of wealth in China.
Pharmaceuticals
Growth in the Hurun Report’s Pharmaceuticals Rich List has been rapid over the past year, with average wealth rising 53.2% to US$611 million, and the qualification threshold rising from US$159 million to US$245 million, the highest in the list’s history. Total wealth is US$20.5 billion. Of the 31 people who made the list, 13 were included for the first time, as opposed to five last year.
Of the companies included, 80% are publicly listed, with four having made successful market debuts over the past year. Li Jinyuan of Tiens topped the list once again, with US$2.8 billion. Xiu Laigui of the Xiuzheng Group remained in second position with US$1.2 billion.
More pharmaceutical entrepreneurs come from Shenzhen (five) than from any other place in China. One third of those on the list hold senior positions in the Communist Party, a greater proportion than on any of the other lists.
More entrepreneurs come from a background in producing and selling Chinese medicine (14) than from any other sector of the industry. Their wealth accounts for 39.4% of the total.
Restaurants
There are 11 entrepreneurs included on this year’s list, and the qualification threshold is US$111 million, US$48 million lower than the full list’s average, but US$95 million higher than last year. The average wealth is US$190 million, a 20% increase on 2008.
Pan Wei, of the Japanese noodle chain Asijen Ramen, retains the top spot on the Hurun Report Restaurant Rich List, with a fortune of US$476 million.
Zhang Lan of South Beauty Group climbs from third to second place, with US$367 million to her name, while Yu Jiarong goes from sixth to second, with US$206 million. Interestingly, list-topping entrepreneur Pan Wei’s Japanese noodle chain was the only company on the list which does not sell Chinese cuisine.
Also, the position of female entrepreneurs on the list is quite striking; the top two are both women, and women account for around 40% of the people on the list, easily surpassing the figure for 2008.
Apparel
Sports clothing led growth in the Hurun Report Apparel Rich List, accounting for 34.8% of wealth in a year that witnessed strong growth, despite the fact that only five of the 31 entrepreneurs were from this sector.
Average wealth increased by 34.5% to US$714 million, and the qualification threshold was raised from US$159 million to US$222 million.
Topping the list this year is Shanghai’s Zhou Chengjian of Metersbonwe at US$3 billion, followed by sports clothing entrepreneurs Ding Shizhong of Anta with US$2.4 billion, and Chen Yihong of China Dongxiang, with US$2. 3 billion.
Fujian and Zhejiang are the provinces with the most entrepreneurs, nine and seven respectively, and Wenzhou is the city that’s home to more than any other. Eight of the top 10 entrepreneurs’ companies are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Financial services
The Hurun Report Financial Services Rich List doesn’t display a great deal of change from last year. Twenty-five are once again included on the list, and total wealth declined to US$14.4 billion, from US$15.7 billion last year. The qualification threshold also fell somewhat, from US$159 million to US$143.9 million.
Among the three new entrepreneurs on the list, two are shareholders in Everbright Securities, which recently did an initial public offering in Shanghai.
Zhu Bingyang of Henfeng Yongye insurance company, last year’s number three, rises to first place with a fortune of US$1.7 billion. He was followed by Lu Zhiqiang of Fanhai, who is valued at US$1.2 billion.
Information technology
Ma Huawei of Tencent is number one for the first time on the Hurun Report IT Rich List with US$3.8 billion. Former table toppers Ding Lei of Netease, Chen Tianqiao of Shanda and Li Yanhong of Baidu occupy second, third and fourth spot respectively.
The list, which contains 50 entrepreneurs, grew at a fast rate over last year, with average wealth rising 52% to US$762 million, and the qualification threshold increasing to US$270 million, up US$95 million from last year. Both figures constitute the highest in the list’s history. Total wealth grew 54%, to US$38 billion.
Guangdong and Beijing are the places with the most entrepreneurs on the list, 14 and 13 respectively, although Jiangsu province rose sharply over last year, reaching third place.
Network cabling and games provide more entrepreneurs to the list than other fields. The relative youth of many of the listed entrepreneurs is notable, the average age being a mere 38 years.
Mining
Chen Fashu of the Xinhuadu Industrial Group is number one for the second year running on the Hurun Report Mining Rich List, with a total worth of US$2.6 billion. The Liu brothers, of the Hongda Group, are second with US$2.2 billion.
There are 30 entrepreneurs on the list, with an average wealth of US$583 million, up 49.9% on last year. Total wealth comes to US$17.5 billion, and the qualification threshold is US$254 million, US$95 million more than in 2008.
Gold mining is the source of more wealth than any other form of mining, with 11 entrepreneurs on the list coming from this background. Their wealth accounted for 41% of the list’s total. Copper come next, with 10 entrepreneurs, followed by zinc, with six. The province with the most mining entrepreneurs is Fujian, followed by Liaoning.
Property
The Hurun Report Property Rich List has seen rapid growth over the past year, with the qualification threshold rising from US$635 million to US$873 million. This is the highest threshold of all of this year’s sub-lists, and the highest since the property list began.
Twenty-two of the 51 entrepreneurs on the list have over US$1.6 billion in assets, five more than last year, and total wealth is US$98 billion, up from US$72 billion in 2008. The average wealth of US$1.9 billion, 37% more than last year, is the highest average among all the sub-lists.
Property wealth accounts for more wealth on the 2009 rich list than any other source, at 23.7%. This is significantly less than the 50% that property accounted for in the first rich list, which was published in 1999, but 0.3% more than last year.
Xu Rongmao and family top the property rich list with US$4.8 billion, followed by Wang Jianlin with US$4.6 billion.
Steel
The Hurun Report Steel Rich List includes 31 entrepreneurs, whose total wealth adds up to US$18.7 billion, down from the US$26 billion in 2008. Average wealth also saw a significant drop, falling 28% to US$603 million, from US$838 million last year.
Shen Wenrong of Sha Steel, number one in 2006, returns to the top with a total worth of US$2.4 billion. He takes the place of Du Shuanghua of Rizhao Steel Group, who drops to second, with US$2.3 billion, while Zhang Zhixiang of Jianlong Steel is third.
Seven of the entrepreneurs on this year’s list are from publicly listed companies. Nonetheless, only two of the top 10 companies feature on the stock exchange. Out of the 31 people on the list, eight are currently serving as senior Communist Party officials.
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