There is one new billionaire in China every day

A new billionaire is now born every day in China. This is evident from new figures from the Hurun Research Institute, which annually compiles the list of the richest Chinese. How can so many Chinese become so rich?

1,434 new names with more than $700 million

According to the report, 1,434 new names were added last year with assets of more than $700 million. That’s an increase of 31 percent from last year, with China reaffirming that the pace of wealth growth in the country is unprecedented.

Together, these super-rich represent an estimated total wealth of 30 trillion yuan, equivalent to about $4.2 trillion, an increase of 42 percent in just one year.

Bull market fuels wealth explosion

According to Hurun, the spectacular increase is mainly due to the strong stock market rally of the past year, in which mainly leaders of so-called ‘new economy’ companies benefited.

Chinese stock markets rose sharply on confidence in the growth of sectors such as electric vehicles, biotechnology and computing. That trend made dozens of entrepreneurs fortunes and breathed new life into the rich list.

“The emergence of new faces in the technology sector and growing exports have accelerated the expansion of the billionaires’ club,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and chief researcher of Hurun.

More billionaires than ever

Also interesting is the increase in the number of ultra-rich at the top: 41 Chinese now have a fortune of more than 100 billion yuan (about 14 billion dollars). That is an increase of 59 percent compared to 26 years ago.

The number of individuals with assets above $1 billion grew by 36 percent to 1,021 people. China is thus strengthening its position as one of the most important breeding grounds for new capital in the world, partly thanks to the combination of strong export growth, a flourishing tech sector and loose monetary policy.

The figures illustrate not only the resilience of China’s economy after years of volatility, but also the speed at which wealth is concentrated in the new industrial wave, from electric cars to AI chips. Would there also be many Bitcoin billionaires?