The super-rich grow more numerous in China. The country now has 358 billionaires, according to the just-released Hurun Global Rich List. <br /><br />That puts China second only to the United States in numbers of billionaires. <br /><br />Of that total 87 have senior political links, being members of powerful bodies that take major political and economical decisions.<br /><br />Fifty-six are members of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and 31 are members of the National People’s Congress (NPC).<br /><br />Real estate riches<br /><br />Property remains the most lucrative road to riches in China, despite Beijing’s repeated efforts to cool red-hot real estate prices.<br /><br />Six of the world’s 10 top property tycoons are now from China and Hong Kong, led by Li Kai-shing, who is worth 200 billion yuan (23.7 billion euros). His fortune rose three percent last year.<br /><br />Li topped the list of billionaires in the Greater China area, followed by Wang Jianlin, chairman of China’s largest commercial property developer, Dalian Wanda Group, and Lui Che-Woo, founder of casino operator, Galaxy Entertainment Group.<br /><br />They are each have personal wealth of 150 billion yuan (17.8 billion euros).<br /><br />Wang’s fortune doubled last year, while Lui’s wealth jumped 108 percent, Hurun Report said.<br /><br />Wang bought UK luxury yacht maker Sunseeker for $1.6 billion (1.16 billion euros) and is planning billion-dollar luxury hotel developments in London and New York.<br /><br />Fifty-seven Chinese billionaires come from Beijing, while 24 are from Shanghai and 27 from Shenzhen, the report said. Sixty-five billionaires are from Hong Kong.
