The economic might of China and India has come under frequent scrutiny for what they are worth in terms of the influence each wields in the comity of nations.
In this context, the Hurun Report, which recently brought out a separate ‘rich list’ for the two countries, throws some light on how the individual rich — and by extension the respective economies — in each has measured up over the last decade.
A comparison of the two lists reveals some interesting facts, according to Anas Rahman Junaid, Managing Director and Chief Researcher, Hurun Report India.
Hurun Report released its Indian and Chinese Rich List 2016 on September 7 and October 13 respectively.
Larger numbers The Chinese Rich list has 2,056 entries and is almost six times bigger than the Indian rich list, which features 339 individuals.
One fact that stands out is that the average wealth of Indian billionaires ($1.4 billion) turns out to be 40 per cent higher than their Chinese counterparts ($1 billion).
In China, there are 13 individuals having a networth of $10 billion or more compared to eight individuals in India.
State of economy Nearly 37 per cent of Indian billionaires made their fortunes from closely-held private companies.
“India Rich List of 2016 is very similar to that of the China Rich List of 2006.
“The rich list is a good representation of the state of the economy,” Junaid told BusinessLine here.
Wealth analysis For instance, China’s GDP per capita is five times that of India’s and the China Rich List is as many times more in size than that of India.
“In 10 years, India has a great potential to expand the list by at least three to four times,” Junaid said.
On the sectoral front, manufacturing (26 per cent), real estate (15 per cent) and IT (12 per cent) are the major contributors to Chinese wealth.
On the other hand, pharmaceuticals (12 per cent), FMCG (11 per cent) and chemicals (6 per cent) power a bulk of India’s wealth, according to the report.