China’s super-rich get $1.5trillion richer as Covid pandemic creates 257 new billionaires despite global slump
CHINA'S wealthiest people have earned $1.5 trillion during the coronavirus pandemic despite the global slump caused by the crisis.
During the last year, 257 more people have become billionaires in the country, according to an annual rich list published today.
Covid-19 is estimated to have triggered the worst global slump since the Great Depression and has already cost millions of working people their jobs.
But despite the crisis, Chinese billionaires have cashed in as their fortunes bloated during the pandemic.
It is believed their wealth increased particularly because e-commerce and gaming boomed while most of the world was in lockdown.
The record $1.5 trillion earned by the super-rich is more than the amount they earned over the past five years combined.
Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce titan Alibaba, once again topped the list after his wealth surged by 45 percent to $58.8 billion.
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He was followed by Pony Ma, boss of gaming giant and WeChat owner Tencent who made an extra 50 percent, with a fortune of $57.4 billion.
The country now has a total of 878 billionaires, according to the Hurun Report.
The report found that there were around 2,000 individuals with a net worth of more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) in August, giving them a combined net worth of $4 trillion.
First-time list member Zhong Shanshan, 66, best-known for his bottled water brand Nongfu, parachuted into the third spot with $53.7 billion after a Hong Kong IPO in September, the report found.
The US had 626 people in the top bracket at the start of the year, according to Hurun in its February global list.
"The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year," Hurun Report chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said in a statement.
This year's list shows China was "moving away from traditional sectors like manufacturing and real estate, towards the new economy", he added.
Healthcare entrepreneurs also moved up the list on the back of the pandemic, with Jiang Rensheng, founder of vaccine-maker Zhifei, tripling his value to $19.9billion.
Wang Xing, founder of food delivery app Meituan, quadrupled his wealth and jumped 52 places to 13th in the list with $25 billion.
Richard Liu, the founder of online shopping platform JD.com, doubled his money pile to $23.5 billion.
China shut down major cities around the country in late January and February to contain the virus that first emerged in Wuhan, causing an unprecedented economic contraction in the first quarter.
With infections appearing to be under control, the country is on track to become the only major economy to expand this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Zoom founder Eric Yuan saw his wealth increase by as much as $12 billion during the pandemic, the reports.
Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher explained to : “China has been the relative winner, with its stock markets weathering the virus better than its U.S. and European counterparts."
On Monday data showed the economy expanded 4.9 per cent in the third quarter even though ordinary workers and fresh graduates are struggling to find jobs.
The urban jobless rate inched down to 5.4 per cent in September, although analysts have warned of higher unemployment than officially reported this year.
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It was previously revealed that only nine of the world's top 100 richest billionaires have made money during the coronavirus pandemic - and all of them are Chinese.
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The rest lost a combined total of $400billion (£325bn) as the coronavirus crisis sends world markets into free fall.
Official figures show China has recorded 85,704 Covid-19 cases and 4,634 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
