Number of Chinese millionaires nears 1M

The number of Chinese with personal wealth of $1.5 million or more total 960,000, thanks to China's explosive economic growth, says an annual report. The latest number of millionaires on the mainland is up 9.7 percent year-on-year, said the Group M Knowledge-Hurun Wealth Report 2011, China Daily reported. The Hurun report analyzes the number and distribution of China's wealthy across major cities and provinces. Group M Knowledge is a think tank. Of the 960,000, 60,000 were identified as super rich, with $15 million or more in personal wealth. The report credited rising property prices and China's fast-growing GDP as main reasons for the rising number of Chinese millionaires. The report said 55 percent of the Chinese millionaires earned their wealth from private businesses, 20 percent from real estate, and 15 percent from equity investment. The remaining 10 percent were identified as high-salaried executives. There were 875,000 millionaires in 2010 and 825,000 in 2009