China is home to a huge amount of rich people. Not just millionaires either, but mostly billionaires are at the forefront of the wealthiest people in the country. In the world, there are almost 2,400 billionaires and China is home to 10% of them. A whopping 94% of them are self-made, too, which is an incredible achievement. In fact, only 2% of China's billionaires have achieved their wealth via inheritance, and 4% have gotten there through a combination of inheritance and successful entrepreneurship.
Over the past decade, China has seen growth in sectors such as real estate, technology, and consumer retail. This has enabled entrepreneurs to reap their fortunes and become some of the richest people in all of China and even in the world.
But who are these people and how did they get so rich? Let's dive right in to find out.
(Photo : Pixabay.com) Pixabay.com
Who Are They and What Do They Do?
One of the most successful Chinese entrepreneurs who tops the rich list every year is Huateng Ma. He has a net worth of a massive $41.8 billion, making him the richest man in China and 15th richest man in the world. He achieved his success as CEO and chairman of one of the biggest internet companies in the world, Tencent.
The richest woman in China is Yang Huiyan, and she made headlines earlier this year when she made $2 billion in just four days. At only 36 years old, she's also China's youngest billionaire, and she is currently estimated to be worth $28.6 billion. She achieved her wealth as a result of inheritance and hard work after her father transferred 70% of his holdings of the real estate company Country Garden to her. She is now the largest stakeholder in the company with 57% stake belonging to her. She's actually pretty shy of the media, so you won't see her in the public eye very often.
Another one of the richest men in China is Hui Ka Yan who is valued at $34.9 billion. He owns 78% of the China Evergrande Group and is the current chairman of the real estate development company. Earlier this year he joined other philanthropists on the China Philanthropy List in donating huge sums of money to poverty relief. Overall, he gave $620 million to charity, now who says rich people aren't charitable?
Source: Twitter.com
What Do They Have In Common?
So what is it that makes these people so rich and successful? What separates the billionaires from us normal folk? Is it luck or is there magic at play?
Many self-made millionaires and billionaires have a lot of similar traits in common. First off, many of them have an incredibly strong work ethic. They put in a great amount of time and effort into their work to make their business a success. Despite setbacks and failures, they always pick themselves up and don't give up on their business and thirst for success.
As stated in this Wink Bingo infographic, many millionaires develop habits that are easy for us all to adapt. One of these includes reading, lots of it. It reports that they read at least one non-fiction book per month. They have a strong desire to learn more and reading is the best way to learn from other successful entrepreneurs. Reading gives us all a new perspective on things and can help us tackle situations in a different way.
Another popular trait is for budgeting money and giving money away. Famously, the late founder and CEO of IKEA Ingvar Kamprad, was a frugal man. He saved more money than he spent, he drove a 1993 Volvo 240 GL, he bought his clothes second-hand, and he would fly coach. He was estimated to be worth $58.7 billion.
When it comes to giving, two of the most charitable billionaires are Bill Gates and J.K. Rowling. They actually lost their billionaire statuses through their charitable giving. Bill Gates would reportedly be worth $88 billion by now if he hadn't donated over a third of his wealth to charity. Rowling has reportedly given over a third of her wealth to charities as well.
Another thing successful people do is hang out with other successful people. If you surround yourself with like-minded, successful people, you'll have a much better chance of success. It allows you to pick up on other successful habits and opens you up to more opportunities.
Up and Coming Billionaires
So now that we know who the richest people in China are and gained some insight into how they might have gotten there, who should we be keeping an eye on? This year has been a great year for China's richest, as they contributed the most new billionaires to Forbes' 2018 Rich List. In the list, 89 people who made it there are from China.
One of the latest newcomers to the list is Wu Shaoxun, owner of white wine company Jing Brand. Right now, his net worth stands at $7 billion. Another one to watch is Fan Hongwei, chairman of Hengli Petrochemical. Right now she is worth $7.3 billion, and her business is a chemical fibre supplier. She is married to the chairman of Hengli Petrochemical's holding company, Chen Jianhua, and her business has sites all across China.
There isn't a great deal of information on them yet, but with their levels of success, we can bet we'll be hearing about them in the coming years.
China is a hotbed of activity for new billionaires and seems to be a breeding ground for them. With sectors such as real estate, technology and customer retail on the rise, it leaves room for more billionaires to make an appearance. It's an exciting time for China and we can't wait to see who will top the list next.
