Chinanews, Beijing, Oct 31 – In China, the number of rich families (as defined by a family whose assets exceed one million US dollars) has increased from 124,000 in 2001 to 310,000 in 2006, the number ranking fifth in the world, only next to the United States, Japan, Britain and Germany, according to a report released by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on Tuesday.

 

Rich Chinese families account for 0.1% of the country's total number, yet they own 41.4% of the total assets in China. As Chinese economy continues to grow, it is expected that by 2011, the number of rich families in China will further rise to 609,000, the report says.

 

In 2006, people's family financial assets (excluding real estate properties and industries) increased for the fifth year consecutively to reach 97.9 trillion yuan (as calculated by local currency) in the world. In China, such family financial assets increase averaged an annual compound growth rate of 23.4%, the fastest in the world and far higher than the 8.6% world average level, according to the report.

 

Apart from the large number of newly emerging rich families, the number of super rich families (whose assets exceed five million US dollars) had also expanded quickly in China from 14,000 in 2001 to well over 48,000 in 2006. In 2001, these people owned 13.3% of the national wealth. Five years later, the proportion rose to 21.1%.

 

At the same time, the number of families whose financial assets are between 100,000 and 1,000,000 US dollars, which are defined as the middle class group in China, has also expanded quickly. It is expected that the number of such families will rise from 3.25 million now to 6.4 million in 2011.

 

Chinese millionaires number now ranks second in Asia, only next to Japan. Last year, the financial assets owned by these rich Chinese families reached 2.5 trillion US dollars, said Deng Junhao, BCG's president.