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Rediff.com  » Business » It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!
This article was first published 12 years ago

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Last updated on: May 17, 2011 10:54 IST

Image: Models pose next to a Spyker C8 Aileron during the Shanghai Auto Show.
Photographs: Aly Song/Reuters.
In the bustling city of Shanghai, around 132,000 people have a personal wealth of 10 million yuan ($1.54 million).

Shanghai comes second after Bejing, which has 170,000 millionaires, according to the Shanghai Wealth Report 2011 published by the Hurun Report and independent financial adviser Gao Fu.

The average age of the super-rich is 43 years. These super-rich tend to own three properties, five luxury watches and four cars.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: A woman smokes a cigarette at the Paramount ballroom.
Photographs: Nir Elias/Reuters.
The super-rich have increasingly shown an affinity to fine wines and collecting art, especially Chinese classical art. This year they are looking to add a holiday home, with Sanya as their preferred destination.

Liu Yongxing, with a wealth of about $5 billion, is the richest person in Shanghai.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: A man looks at a Chrysler Limousine as it waits take the bride and groom to their wedding reception.
Photographs: Nir Elias/Reuters.

The city boasts to have 7,800 super-rich people, who have a personal wealth of 100 million yuan.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: An assistant carries dogs to their owner's car following their weekly grooming at a pet salon.
Photographs: Nir Elias/Reuters.

China has a total of 960,000 millionaires people who are worth 10 million yuan or more. This is a rise of about 10 per cent compared to last year's rich list.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: People throng the Nanjing Road shopping district in Shanghai.
Photographs: Aly Song/Reuters.

Of the 960,000 millionaires, 55 per cent made their wealth from their private business. Twenty per cent are property speculators.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: A man looks at a demonstration of a prototype of a dog robot during the 2011 IEEE conference.
Photographs: Aly Song/Reuters.

Around 15 per cent are stock market gurus, who are also the youngest with an average age of 38. The remaining 10 per cent are high earning salaried executives.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: A vendor places a gold statue featuring late Chinese leader Mao Zedong at a gold store in Xiangtan.
Photographs: Reuters.

Rising property prices and a fast-growing GDP have been the key drivers for the growth in the number of these millionaire luxury consumers.

Property prices in 2010 rose across the country by 13.7 per cent, with luxury property prices rising even faster.

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It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: A wedding party pose for pictures with the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in the background.
Photographs: Carlos Barria/Reuters.
Shanghai's rapid economic development and exploding real estate market has created a situation where 1 in every 175 people in Shanghai is a millionaire.

The number of these Shanghai-based luxury consumers is growing by 8.2 per cent year on year.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: A customer selects gold jewellery from a glass case at a jewellery shop in Huaibei.
Photographs: Reuters.

A report by Knight Frank in April this year noted that luxury property prices in Shanghai rose 21 per cent year-on-year, the fastest in the world.

. . .

It's raining millionaires in Shanghai!

Image: A shop assistant (L) displays an iPad at an electronic products store in Hefei.
Photographs: Reuters.

"There is still a great deal of hidden wealth in the Chinese economy," Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, said. Around 30 per cent of the millionaires are women.