Another Chinese city has surpassed New York in the number of billionaires

HONG KONG – Three years ago, American businessman Raj Oswal traveled to the Chinese city Shenzhen on behalf of the customer. He was so impressed that he stayed and founded his own tech company.

“You can’t find too many other cities in China or around Asia that really embrace innovation like Shenzhen,” says Oswal, comparing his move there from California to his father’s decision to leave India. in the 1970s so he could pursue his studies and a career in the United States.

Oswal describes Shenzhen, a city of 17.5 million people Chinasouthern border of Hong Kongas a place filled with “the optimism of youth”.

Increasingly, it is also filled with money. The former fishing village, now the tech hub known as China’s Silicon Valley, has joined Beijing and Shanghai in becoming the world’s top three cities for billionaires, overtaking New York in the first time. this year.

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According to Hurun Global Rich ListAn annual ranking compiled by a private company based in Shanghai, Beijing is home to the largest number of billionaires in the world with 144, followed by Shanghai with 121. There are 113 billionaires in Shenzhen, compared with 110 in New York, while London came out on top. fifth with 101.

The growing concentration of wealth is not news to people in Shenzhen, which has added eight billionaires since last year.

“It’s kind of a wake-up call for the rest of the world,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, president and chief researcher at Hurun Report, the company behind the list.

While the rankings can fluctuate, he said the growing number of billionaires in Shenzhen reflects a “major trend” that will attract more young entrepreneurs to the city in the coming years.

“It is an important indicator of where Shenzhen comes from and where it is going,” he said.

Shenzhen’s rise to prominence began in 1980, when it was named China’s first special economic zone as part of the country’s “reform and opening-up” process under leader Deng Xiao. Jar. That allowed the city to experiment with market capitalism in an attempt to attract foreign investment. Between 1979 and 2021, Shenzhen’s gross domestic product grew from less than $28 million to nearly $475 billion.

Today, the city is home to some of China’s biggest tech companies, including telecommunications giant Huawei and Internet conglomerate Tencent, inspiring others to follow suit. Last year, 2,500 new state-recognized high-tech companies were established in Shenzhen, bringing the total to 17,000, according to the local government.

It is also part of what China calls the Greater Bay Area, a general economic and business hub that aims to connect Shenzhen with eight other cities in Guangdong province along with Chinese territories. are Hong Kong and Macau.

Oswal had a clear chance even when he caught a plane from Shenzhen airport after first arriving in 2019.

“All the stereotypes I had about Chinese cities have been demolished one by one with the green and modern urban landscape changing along the way,” he said.

Heng Chen, an associate professor of economics at the University of Hong Kong, said Shenzhen’s momentum is supported by its welcoming environment for entrepreneurs.

“The population structure is still very young compared to other megacities or first-class cities in China, so that’s one of the reasons why it’s a very attractive place,” he said.

In addition, government officials in Shenzhen are “committed to devoting resources and finances to attracting top talent from the rest of the world”.

But the city also faces major challenges in the process pandemic caused by corona virusespecially in recent weeks when China battles its worst outbreak in two years. The government’s zero-tolerance strategy relies on border closures, mass checks and strict lockdowns, and restrictions have caused delays at factories and ports in Shenzhen, one of largest factories in the world.

During a week-long lockdown in Shenzhen last month, authorities allowed Apple supplier Foxconn Technology Group to restart some production using a “closed-door” system. require employees to stay on site.

Shang-Jin Wei, an economics professor at Columbia Business School and a former economist at the Asian Development Bank, said: “Despite the financial pressures of the pandemic, China’s economy continues to continue. growth “is partly because China’s cities are so flexible. “They can adapt to new situations.”

Wei also said Shenzhen offers favorable policies for high-tech companies, such as tax breaks.

According to the Hurun Report, as of January 14, there are 3,381 billionaires in the world, a net increase of 153 billionaires from last year, and their total wealth increased by 4% to $15.2 trillion. Of these, 1,133 are in China and 716 are in the US. China overtook the US in the number of billionaires in 2016.

But China’s billionaires have also been “hit hard” in the past year, the report said, amid regulation suppression about technology, education and other industries and government Campaign “Commonwealth” promote a more even distribution of wealth.

China has lost 160 billionaires in the past year, more than any other country. Colin Huang, founder of e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, experienced the biggest loss of his fortune of up to $50 billion as shares of his Nasdaq-listed company plunged. Xu Jiayin, president of Real estate developer attached to Evergrande Grouplost more than $23 billion due to his company continuing to default on bond payments.

Zhong Shanshan, founder of beverage and bottled water company Nongfu Spring, remains China’s richest person with a fortune of $72 billion. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, whose company owns TikTok video app, ranked second with 54 billion USD. Right behind him is Zeng Yuqun, founder of electric vehicle battery maker CATL, who is worth $53 billion.

Pony Ma of Tencent and Jack Ma of tech giant Alibaba, two of China’s biggest names in businessboth broke out of China’s top three for the first time since 2015. Pony Ma fell to fourth on the list as his fortune dropped to $52 billion, followed by Jack Ma with $37 billion. .

There are no Chinese billionaires in the global top 10, led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk with a net worth of over $200 billion. Hoogewerf attributes that to the fact that Chinese billionaires tend to run businesses that are locally focused rather than global.

Indian telecom mogul Mukesh Ambani is the only Asian to make the top 10 list if not dominated by the US and France. But he has since been replaced as Asia’s richest man with Indian infrastructure mogul Gautam Adani. The two men, who, according to Hurun Report, each have a net worth of around $100 billion, also cheered for Forbes World Billionaires List was released this week, peaking at number 10 and 11.

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