Millionaire growth numbers slow

The number of multi-millionaires and billionaires in China rose 3 percent and 2 percent year-on-year respectively in 2012, the slowest growth in five years, according to a report released on Wednesday.

By the end of 2012, there were 1.05 million individuals with a personal wealth reaching 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) and 64,500 with a personal wealth of more than 100 million yuan on the Chinese mainland, an annual increase of 30,000 and 1,000, read the report jointly issued by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute and GroupM China.

Both research firms attributed the slowdown to the bearish domestic stock market.

"The number of rich people who largely make money from stock investment dropped significantly, directly influencing the total numbers," a PR representative from GroupM China told the Global Times on condition of anonymity.

In 2012, 15 percent of multi-millionaires amassed their wealth mainly through stock investment, down from 20 percent in 2011, in contrast to 3,200 billionaires earning from the stock market in 2012, a figure half that of 2011.

The A-share market in the country has been suffering a continuing decline for six years, Li Daxiao, director of research at Yingda Securities, told the Global Times Wednesday.

However, Li predicted that the report is likely to see more rich people willing to invest in stocks this year.

"A total of 1,325 multi-millionaires returned to the stock market in July, as the country's shares began to rebound after its index touched 1,849 points on June 25," Li noted.

Hurun also issued research based on a 2012 survey of 551 individuals with a personal wealth of 10 million yuan or above.

Real estate was still the hottest investment destination.

The rich people who decided to invest in this sector accounted for 64 percent of the total respondents, while the stock market is their second favorite, read the survey.

Hurun said that as the property market is full of uncertainty and stock prices are unstable, wealthy people are actively seeking new investment channels, such as gold and art.

The future of the domestic real estate market is hard to predict, as the central government is making full efforts to cool down housing prices, Chen Zhi, secretary of general of the Beijing Real Estate Association, told the Global Times.

The survey also indicated that 25 percent of respondents felt very confident about China's economy in the next two years, a decrease of 3 percentage points from its survey in 2011. In 2010, the rate was 54 percent.

Chen said that due to concerns over the domestic economy, wealthy people are likely to purchase overseas properties, a trend also supported by the Hurun survey, which noted that the US is the most popular location for such purchases.