Report: China's ranks of billionaires swell with soaring share, land prices

[bulldogg]

SHANGHAI, China: The richest Chinese have seen their wealth double since last year as share and property prices have soared, according to a list issued Wednesday naming the 26-year-old daughter of a property tycoon the country's richest person.
The list of mainland China's 800 wealthiest people, compiled by independent Shanghai-based analyst Rupert Hoogewerf, ranked Yang Huiyuan the richest, with a fortune estimated at US$17.5 billion.
Hoogewerf's ranking matched a China rich list issued earlier in the week by the Forbes business magazine, though Forbes estimated Yang's wealth at US$16.2 billion.
Yang's sudden ascent into billionairedom reflects the stunning wealth accumulating in a stock boom that has taken China share prices to record highs in recent months.
Her fortune comes from a 59.5 percent stake in Country Garden Holdings Ltd., a South China real estate developer founded by her father. The company's initial public offering in Hong Kong in April raised the equivalent of US$1.9 billion (€1.4 billion), and its shares closed Wednesday at 13.12 Hong Kong dollars (US$1.68; €1.20) — more than double the IPO price.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/10/business/AS-FIN-China-Billionaires.php

 

[senojekips]

Is this the thin edge of the wedge for capitalism.

I'm told that the wealth doesn't extend very far into the rural areas, but with so many Chinese moving to the cities I feel that this will spread the desire, and maybe provide some small opportunity for the acquisition of personal wealth.

I'd particularly like to hear your impressions of this Bulldogg. If you are allowed to comment.

 

[bulldogg]

Alas, I am not. One day, hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll share a beer or twelve and you can pick my brain till the cows come home Spike.