BEIJING – The “Private Banking White Paper 2011” issued last week by the Hurun Report website jointly with Bank of China shows that 14% of people who own more than 10 million RMB (about $1 million) have either emigrated or are in the process of doing so. Another 50% are considering emigration.
From May to September this year, the research institute led by Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder of the China Rich List, conducted face-to-face interviews with individuals with average assets of more than 60 million RMB in 18 large Chinese cities. The research resulted in 980 valid questionnaires from respondents with an average age of 42.
The white paper indicates that one-third of this group of individuals owns assets abroad. These overseas assets account for 19% of their capital. The major target of the group’s investment is in property, and among the individuals who don’t yet have any overseas assets, 30% are planning to invest abroad in the next three years.
Children’s education is the main cause for China’s rich to invest overseas, with more than half of the people surveyed citing this issue. But a full third of the individuals invest abroad to begin to lay the groundwork for emigration.
More than 60% of the respondents wish to pass on their enterprises to their own children, while just 30% say they are willing to hand over control to professional managers.
On this year’s Hurun China Rich List, more than one-quarter of the 1,000 wealthiest Chinese got rich from real estate. Another 20% come from the manufacturing sector. Among the world’s 1,000 billionaires, real estate businessmen account for about one in 10, whereas manufacturers account for only 8.5%.
When we compare Chinese billionaires and their world counterparts, there is a big gap. Relatively few Chinese billionaires work in the fields of finance and investment, in the entertainment sector or in retail. Rupert Hoogewerf says this finding means that these three sectors still have serious potential for growth.
Read the full story in the Economic Observer
Photo – relgar
*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations