Asia Briefing: Chongqing emerges as magnet for multi-millionaires

Everyone, of course, has heard of Beijing and Shanghai, and both have growing reputations as places where wealthy Chinese now live.

But lesser known cities such as Chongqing and Hangzhou are becoming increasingly important for their populations of multi-millionaires.

Research from the WealthInsight group shows that the fastest growing city for dollar multi-millionaires in China between 2007 and 2012 was Chongqing in the southwest of the country.

The multi-millionaire population of that city – which is technically a municipality operated by the central government in Beijing – grew by nearly 80 per cent over the period, and now has 96 ultra high net worth individuals with more than $30 million in assets.

Commercial centres
The neighbouring city of Chengdu, and Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province in the south, respectively saw their multi-millionaire population roll rise by 60 per cent over the same period. Chengdu has 120 multi- millionaires and Fuzhou has 67.

In absolute terms, Hong Kong is the city with the most ultra-rich, with 2,560 multi-millionaire residents at the end of 2012. But its ultra high net worth population grew by only 16 per cent in that same time period.

The WealthInsight report notes how the biggest cities failed to register on the fastest growing lists, which was a sign that wealth has begun to transition from established commercial centres.

“Private banks and luxury goods companies should start targeting smaller cities such as Hangzhou and Wuhan,” the report said.