Now, over a million millionaires in China

**Beijing:**The number of millionaires in Chinacrossed a million mark for the first time in the Communist nation,putting it in the elite club of the wealthy nations like USand Japan.

The elite millionaires group includes 63,500billionaires, according to Hurun Report, a Chinese event andpublishing group which compiled the China’s list of the rich.

The number of Chinese worth more than 10 million yuan($ 1.6 million) broke the million mark in 2011 for the firsttime, with 1.02 million people now in this elite group.

Of these million-plus wealthy individuals, 84 percentare concentrated in the eastern, northern and southern regionsof China, with Beijing home to the greatest number, at 1.79lakh millionaires.

Rising property prices and a fast-growing gross domesticproduct helped drive up the number of wealthy Chinese in 2011,according to the report.

The Hurun Report, founded by Rupert Hoogewerf, is amagazine best known for its “China Rich List,” a ranking ofChina’s wealthiest individuals.

The growing numbers of millionaires is contributing thegrowth of luxury products in China, it said.

“For most luxury brands, the Chinese luxury consumer isnow Number One: either representing the biggest market shareor the fastest-growing,” Hoogewerf, Chairman and ChiefResearcher of Hurun Report said.

China has emerged as the world’s second largest economy,recording the fastest pace of development due to reformprocess.

PTI