100 Richest People in Korea and China

According to a recent report released by the LG Economic Research Institute, the top 100 richest people in China have on average more than double the property and are five years younger in age than their Korean counterparts.

The report, entitled, “Know the Chinese Rich, Know the Chinese Economy” compared the top 100 richest people in Korea and China and concluded that, in Korean won terms, the 100 Chinese’s average wealth reached 831.9 billion, 2.2 times larger than the Koreans’ 376.4 billion.

The aggregate worth of the top 100 wealthiest men stands at 83.1947 trillion won in China and 37.6389 trillion won in Korea.

The average age of those top 100 richest people is 48.2 years in China, 5.1 years younger than the 53.3 years for the Koreans.

The report is based on “Korea’s 100 richest” on the Korean Website “chaebul.com” (on the basis of the April 30 closing price of the stock market) and the ranking of China’s 500 richest people that appeared in the April issue of the Chinese financial magazine, “New Fortune Magazine.”

The report explains that the gap between the two countries’ rich is highly likely to widen as the Chinese economy continues its rapid growth and as the prospects for the country’s real estate market are bright.

Meanwhile, according to the report’s analysis, those in the financial sector among the 500 richest Chinese own the highest average per capita wealth, followed by those in real estate, media, entertainment, and retail sectors.

Those in the beverage business ranked near the top in average per capita wealth last year, but went down to fifth place this year.

In the breakdown of the aggregate amount of wealth of the top 500, the contribution of those in real estate became the largest in 2003. Since then, their ratio continues to increase and reached 30.2 percent this year. By contrast, the ratio of those in the manufacturing sector stands at just 14.4 percent.

The report explained: “The diminishing amount of wealth of the rich in the manufacturing sector suggests the ever-intensifying competition in the field.”

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