At least five investors from the Chinese mainland and three tycoons from Hong Kong now belong to the list of the world’s 62 wealthiest people, according to a report by the international charity Oxfam.
China Daily reported that based on Oxfam's research, the 62 wealthiest people now own as much as half the world's population of about 3.5 billion people does, revealing the widening wealth gap between the rich and the poor.
The Oxfam report showed that half of the super-rich individuals come from the United States.
The report said that some of the rich Chinese from the mainland included in the world's richest are technology investors Robin Li, founder of search engine Baidu; Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, chief of Tencent Holdings; and Jack Ma, the founder of online shopping platform Alibaba. The inclusion of the three reflected the growing importance of Internet-related businesses in China, the report added.
Also included in the list are Wang Jianlin, chairman of Chinese real estate and entertainment conglomerate Wanda Group, and Li Hejun, chairman of energy corporation the Hanergy Group.
The list also featured Hong Kong business tycoon Li Ka-shing and property moguls Lee Shau Kee and the Kwok brothers, Thomas and Raymond.
The report, named "An Economy for the 1 percent," also identified 17 billionaires from Europe, and other wealthy individuals from countries that included Brazil, Japan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
Oxfam said in the report, which was released ahead of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that the wealth of the richest 62 people increased by more than half a trillion U.S. dollars to $1.76 trillion, an increase of 44 percent since 2010.
The report also showed that in comparison, the wealth of the poorest dropped by $1 trillion or 41 percent since 2010.
Winnie Byanima, Oxfam International's executive director, said: "The richest can no longer pretend that their wealth benefits everyone--their extreme wealth in fact shows an ailing global economy. The recent explosion in the wealth of the super-rich has come at the expense of the majority and particularly the poorest people."
According to the report, Oxfam urged governments to take action against tax havens to address inequality and to invest in healthcare, schools and other vital public services. The organization also asked governments to ensure that taxes owed by companies and rich individuals are collected as it would help meet their goal to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.
Chan May Ling, international program director at Oxfam Hong Kong, said: "I believe that the Chinese government has implemented appropriate tax reform. . . . The key issue is that the new Chinese rich and the middle class can help to contribute to poverty alleviation work by paying appropriate taxes."
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), however, said that despite the widening wealth gap globally, the number of people living in extreme poverty dropped by 650 million since 1981, while the global population grew by 2 billion.
The OECD said that this change has been done by China, which alone accounted for half a billion people moving out of extreme poverty.
"China is a unique case. No other country has lifted so many people out of poverty in such a short period of time. Therefore, the challenge is to implement a sustainable economic model that includes the participation of the poorest sections of the population in economic development and prosperity," Chan said.