Battling a devastating virus outbreak and an unending wave of trade tensions with the US, China still managed to top the Hurun Global Rich List, which measured the wealth of some 2,816 billionaires from 72 countries and regions, Caixin Global reported.
China record 799 billionaires in 2019, more than both the US and India put together, according to the annual Hurun report.
“China today has more billionaires than the U.S. and India combined,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Shanghai-based Hurun Report, which published the rankings Wednesday.
He added that a boom in tech valuations and strong stock markets in China, the U.S. and India pushed the number of global billionaires to a record high of 2,816, the report said.
In 2019, China created 182 billionaires, three times the number as those in the US, according to the Hurun Report.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who retired in September last year, climbed a place to become the world’s 21st richest person with a net worth of US$45 billion last year, retaining his title as China’s wealthiest person, the report said.
Ma ranked just ahead of Tencent’s Pony Ma with a net worth of US$44 billion and Xu Jiayin of property developer Evergrande with US$33 billion, the report said.
An overseas pushback against Huawei and a US blacklisting did not prevent the company’s founder, 76-year-old Ren Zhengfei from growing his personal fortune by 7% to US$3 billion. He ranked at 903rd, the same as U.S. President Donald Trump.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was the world’s richest man for a third consecutive year with a $US140 billion fortune, according to the list.