Chinese billionaires shrink by half

New York, Oct 30 (PTI) Global economic woes seems to have eroded the fortunes of the wealthiest in China as the country has fewer billionaires now - in fact lesser by over 50 percent - in the latest Forbes list.

According to the U.S. publication Forbes, the number of
billionaires this year are just 24 as compared to 66 in 2007.

"The combined net worth of the 400 richest dropped to 173
billion dollars from 288 billion dollars. The top 40 lost 68
billion dollars, or 57 percent. The minimum net worth slipped
20 million dollars to 180 million dollars," the magazine said
in an accompanying report.

Forbes added that losses would have been greater if it
had not been for the Chinese currency renminbi's 10 per cent
appreciation against the dollar.

The erosion in wealth is likely to reduce the number of
Indian billionaires as well, when the magazine comes out with
its rich list for India, possibly next month.

This year's list of richest Chinese people is topped by
60-year old Liu Yongzing of East Hope Group with a net worth
of 3 billion dollars.

Gome Electrical Appliances' Wong Kwong Yu (2.7 billion
dollars) at the second spot and real estate heiress Yang
Huiyan of Country Garden (2.2 billion dollars) at the third
place.

New Hope Group's Liu Yonghao (2.2 billion dollars) and
Metersbonwe's Zhou Chengjian & family (two billion dollars)
are placed at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

"Property has led the downturn as the government tightens
credit to counter a bubble and prices have started to fall.
But it is not the only sector hurting.

The US slowdown, combined with the appreciation of the
renminbi and a draconian, socialist-style labour law that took
effect this year, have further taken the wind out of
manufacturing, especially in export hubs such as Guangdong and
Zhejiang provinces," the report pointed out.

According to the magazine, the 27-year old Yang Huiyan
who topped the rich list in 2007, is the biggest loser this
year. Her net worth has declined by 14 billion dollars to 2.2
billion dollars, moving her to the third spot.

"The Year of the Rat has been a rough one for China's
richest, with fortunes being dragged down amid a 60 percent
plunge in mainland stocks and a 50 percent drop in Hong Kong
shares in 2008," the magazine pointed out.

However, a few tycoons defied the downward trend. These
included Liu Yongxing whose agricultural feed business has
fared well lately helping him top the latest list.

"The biggest gainer was Zhou Chengjian, who climbed 351
ranks to the fifth spot, worth 2 billion dollars, after he
successfully listed his trendy apparel company, Shanghai
Metersbonwe Fashion & Accessories, in August," Forbes noted.

Net worths of people with publicly traded fortunes were
calculated using stock prices and exchange rates as on October
17.

"One exception: We knocked Citic Pacific's Larry Yung's
net worth down by 550 million dollars to reflect the company's
dramatic 55 percent stock drop the following week. For
members whose companies are listed in both mainland China and
Hong Kong, we mostly valued their holdings using prices from
Hong Kong's relatively open market," the magazine said.

Privately held fortunes were valued at book value or by
coupling estimates of revenues, profits or book value to
prevailing ratios for similarly publicly traded companies.

"... to facilitate comparisons of success among
businesspeople with similar backgrounds, we include a few
entrepreneurs born in mainland China whose current citizenship
is not with the People's Republic of China but whose main
source of wealth and/or residence is the mainland," Forbes
said. PTI RAM