China’s ultra-rich are shrinking in number and wealth, with recent reports highlighting how the country’s billionaires have been hit by the economic downturn, industry-specific challenges and regulatory pressures.

This year, the Hurun China Rich List had 743 US dollar billionaires, a 36% drop from 2021’s 1,185 billionaires – a record year for China’s super-rich.

The number of people with wealth above 5 billion yuan (about $700 million) also fell 12 percent from the previous year to fewer than 1,100, reflecting continued economic and regulatory challenges. .

In total, China’s richest saw their collective wealth decline by 10 percent, marking the third consecutive year of decline in their fortunes.

“The stories of the individuals on the Hurun China Rich List tell the story of the Chinese economy,” noted Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and chief researcher of the Hurun Research Institute.

“Personal figures like Robin Zeng of lithium battery maker CATL and Li Zhenguo of solar panel giant Longi weren’t even on the list ten years ago,” he added, pointing to rapid changes in wealth-generating sectors in recent years.

Who took the top spots on China’s rich list this year?

Zhang Yiming, the 41-year-old founder
ByteDance, won the title of China’s richest person with a net worth of $49.3 billion, up from fourth place the previous year.

Despite ByteDance
ongoing legal battle Relative to its U.S. assets, the company’s global revenue jumped 30% last year to $110 billion, buoyed by the popularity of TikTok with nearly 200 million users in the United States. United.

ByteDance’s other platform, Douyin, serves Chinese users and further supports Zhang’s wealth.

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Zhong Shanshan, the founder of Nongfu Spring, China’s largest bottled water company, slipped to second place as his fortune fell 24 percent to $47.9 billion.

Third on the list was Pony Ma Huateng, founder of Shenzhen-based tech giant Tencent, valued at $44.4 billion, followed by Colin Huang of PDD Holdings, whose e-commerce platforms like Pinduoduo have seen steady revenue growth. revenue despite falling to fourth place.

On the women’s side, Kelly Zong Fuli of beverage giant Wahaha held the title of China’s richest woman, but female billionaires made up only 23.5 percent of the list.

Why is China’s rich list shrinking?

The Chinese economy is struggling with a
prolonged housing crisis, high unemployment, growing local government debt and weaker-than-expected consumer demand. These factors have weighed heavily on the country’s billionaires.

The government has pledged to spend more than $1.4 trillion on new debt initiatives to boost growth, after failing to meet its 5 percent growth target for three consecutive quarters this year.

Despite these measures,
regulatory enforcement actions on technology giants, illustrated by the
2020 antitrust investigation in Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s businesses have reshaped China’s wealth landscape.

Some Chinese super-rich have moved away or chosen to keep a low profile, as shown by the exodus of around 15,200 wealthy people in 2024, projected by Henley & Partners.

Political tensions, particularly under the Xi Jinping regime
“common prosperity” policy, have prompted wealthy citizens to explore unorthodox ways of moving their assets overseas, circumventing China’s $50,000 annual limit on foreign transfers through clandestine schemes like “hawala” or buying cryptocurrencies – despite China banning cryptocurrencies in 2021.

Which industries in China are experiencing a downward trend?

While technology and consumer goods were the dominant sectors among China’s richest, older sectors like real estate saw significant losses.

Solar panel makers and lithium battery producers have faced intensifying competition, sending some fortunes down as much as 80% from their 2021 highs, with electric vehicle and battery makers falling around half and a quarter, respectively.

“Manufacturers of solar panels, lithium batteries and electric vehicles have had a difficult year, as competition intensified, leading to a glut, and the threat of tariffs added to uncertainties,” explained Rupert Hoogewerf.

Despite these challenges, Taiwan’s number of billionaires increased by 15 to a total of 97, thanks to its strong semiconductor industry. Conversely, Hong Kong saw its billionaire population decline by four, to 56, with no Macau billionaires on the list and only 30 Chinese billionaires residing overseas, mainly in the United States and Singapore.

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With the contribution of agencies