How many wealthier people does China really have? And how rich are they? Along with the appearance and increase of the number of the wealthier class in China these questions have turned out to be focal topics for the concern of the people.Recently, Merrill Lynch and Kaijie Consultant Co. have jointly developed in its "Annual Global Fortune Report 2004" an astonishing figure: 2003 saw the number of the wealthier people with over one million US dollars in financial property come to 236,000 heads in China. And the total property owned by these people has amounted to over 969 billion US dollars. If compared to China's GDP of 1.4 trillion US dollars in 2003, the figure is beyond doubt quite astonishing.Among these members of the wealthier club the average property owned by each and every of them has exceeded 4.1 million US dollars, an equivalent to 34 million yuan in people's currency. According to the definition of the rich people as given by Merrill Lynch in the "Annual Global Fortune Report 2004" they are the people with over one million US dollars in financial property without taking into account their real estate for personal use. In other words, if one is to join the club s/he must have over one million US dollars, and moreover, the sum can be used at any moment for investment in securities or bonds in the financial market.

Increasing rate of wealthier people doubles that of GDP in China

The year of 2004 is the 8th time for Merrill Lynch to have brought out the "Global Fortune Report" in the world. Every time, the global fortune report provides a detailed number of wealthier people in the world and its increasing ratio. As one of the largest property management co. in the world the purpose of Merrill Lynch to pay attention to these wealthier people is very obvious, namely they are the main targets for the Merrill to offer them financial services.

In the past, the data figures given in the "Global Fortune Report" were classified from region to region, for instance, the figures of the wealthier people in America, Europe and Asia. But Merrill Lynch used for the first time the figures of a country in this year's report, covering a total of 68 major countries and regions. The sum-total of the GDP of these countries has come to 98 percent of the total in the world with the stock market value taking up 99 percent, which has largely covered the financial market of the whole world.

"The increase of the wealthier people in China is one of the fastest countries in the world," said Ms. Ma Rong, Vice president for the Asia-Pacific Region of the Merrill Lynch. The Merrill Global Fortune Report 2004 indicates the wealthier people has increased 12 percent in China as compared to that a year before, reaching a total of 236,000 heads, and the gross-total of their wealth has come to 969 billion US dollars.

The number is not only increasing in the wealthier people club in China but also in the whole world. The year of 2003 witnessed a total increase of the wealthier people up to 7.5 percent, reaching 7.7 million all over the world and they own a total property wealth of over 28.8 trillion US dollars. Compared to the global GDP growth rate in 2003, the growth rate of the wealthier people has witnessed doubling that of the world GDP growth rate.

The growth rate of the wealthier people in India, Spain, the ROK, the USA, Czech, Australia and Canada and also including China has all stepped over 10 percent while Ma has a bold estimation that " the increase of the wealthier people will see an annual growth rate of 7 percent in the 5 years to come."

Although the people in most of the countries just came to feel the benefit of the economic recovery on the whole globe, however, the wealthier people have already enjoyed the benefit brought about by this round of economic recovery.

Statistic and accumulation of wealth

Different from what the outsider is imagined the Merrill Lynch doesn't get the figures of the wealthier people in China by way of individual investigation for it doesn't have a list of 236,000 Chinese rich people in hand.

The way it did is like this: first of all it has a gross estimation of the wealth of a country and then calculates the distribution of wealth among the adults of the country.

The statistic data of the International Monetary Fund and the national accounting of the World Bank may be used by estimation to work out the gross wealth of each country. And afterwards as it has further to calculate out the value of financial capital it needs to make an adjustment of the figure according to the global stock indexes, and therefore the eventual figure is able to tell the stock market value held by the wealthier people. The data of the financial capital worked out include the face value as by individual application and the public listing of all such forms as shares, financial claims, funds and cash deposits but they do not cover collections, consumptives, consumptive durable properties and homesteads for personal residences and so on.

The result indicates: except India in which the growth rate of the wealthier people came to 22 percent the fastest of all in Asia the growth rate of the wealthier people came to 12 percent in China next only to that in India. And in the Asia�CPacific region due to the fast growth of the rich people in the two countries they have always witnessed the fastest growth of the wealthier people in the region.

"Due to the all-time higher savings and quick growth of the GDP in Asia-Pacific region," said Ma Rong on analytical basis, "and a fast increase in export the year of 2003 also saw a strong impetus in 53 percent of the capital market. This has resulted in a very fast growth of the wealthier people in the Asia-Pacific region."

On Chinese mainland, the figure of the wealthier people witnessed an increase from 211,000 heads in 2002 to 236,000 in 2003, a growth rate of 12 percent. "The fast growth of the GDP and the stable exchange rate of the people's currency against the US dollar have made the people's currency quite strongly competitive in the US export market and at the same time pushed ahead its export trade of commodities," held Ma Rong. "That the Chinese government gives as always free rein to direct foreign investment has made the new foreign capital to stimulate the growth of the commerce and economy."

Prof. Lu Hongjun pointed out: "in the course when China is stepping into a well-off society it has also appeared a situation in which the wealth is also highly agglomerated." The main reason behind it is the fast increase of the gross domestic products.

Contrary to the agglomeration of the wealth, that goes parallel is the loss of fortune, Ma Rong pointed out, the slowdown of domestic needs, the law of the Chinese government and the ceaseless restrictions on the foreign investment by government organs will put a check on the growth of the wealthier people in China. And moreover, the taxation and the gloomy sources of wealth among part of the wealthier people have forced some of the rich people to shift their property out from China to alien lands. This will also reduce the number of the wealthier people and the value of the capital wealth.

Article from "21st Century Economic Report" and translated by People's Daily Online