Emerging Asia is seeing one of the fastest increase in new wealth. Here in China, the country is host to the world’s youngest billionaires. That’s according to a recent report by ultra high net worth research firm Wealth-X and UBS. Let’s bring in Guan Xin who’s been following this story for us Guan Xin define the Chinese billionaire for us.
Guan: The report is the first-ever global study of the world’s ultra wealthy. It focuses on individuals with a net worth of over one billion US dollars. With 157 billionaires, China has the second largest billionaire population after the United States.
China’s billionaire population grew by 10 individuals between July 2012 and June 2013, the period under study for the report, representing a 7% increase. The combined net worth however grew 1 percent over the same period.
At 53 years old, the average age of China’s billionaires is 9 years younger than the global average. China’s billionaire population is predominantly male, only 9% are females.
China also has the highest percentage of self made billionaires in any country -- Nearly 90 percent of the country’s billionaires made their own fortunes. The report also found they are aggressive investors, Simon Jin, President of UBS China, explains which sectors they’re particularly interested in.
Jin also said the ratio of Chinese billionaires investing in the financial sector is only 6%, lower than the global average of 13%. As the country posed to further open its financial and banking sectors to private entrepreneurs, the number is expected to see remarkable growth.
The life of the ultra-rich is always somewhat of an enigma to us ordinary people. There’s a perception that China’s nouveau riche love to splurge they’re not shy in showing it. That’s given rise to the term "Tuhao" here in China. It’s a very colloquial term and even the Oxford English Dictionary says it may consider putting this word into its next edition. Explain this term to our viewers
The word did quickly go viral in China, its popularity seems to stem from the fact that it encapsulates China’s changing society so well. Tuhao roughly translates into "crass rich", referring to the new rich who come from a poor background. To some extent the survey supports the description, as the majority of Chinese billionaires are self made, meaning they came from a humble background. And it also showed only 58% of Chinese billionaires have bachelor’s degree or higher.
Many believe the ultra rich in China are typically interested in going after luxury products just to show off their wealth. However the survey found the opposite Chinese billionaires only hold 2% of their net worth in luxury assets. Another feature is they only hold 10 percent of liquidity in their investment portfolios. Simon Jin also said the majority of them are hard-working and tend to continue investing with their wealth.