Weblog with daily updates of the news on a frugal, fair and beautiful China, from the perspective of internet entrepreneur, new media advisor and president of the China Speakers Bureau Fons Tuinstra
Showing posts with label Rupert Hoogewerf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rupert Hoogewerf. Show all posts
The Hurun China rich list published its 2024 results and its chairman Rupert Hoogewerf saw 30 percent of the country’s billionaires disappear, he says on CNBC. “The Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year,” said Rupert Hoogewerf.
CNBC:
China has 1,094 individuals with wealth exceeding 5 billion yuan ($700 million), down by 12% or 147 individuals from the previous year, according to Hurun Research. The combined wealth of these entrepreneurs amounted to $3 trillion, 10% lower than last year.
The country’s billionaire count dropped by 142 to 753 from a year earlier — and down more than 30% from the 2021 high of 1,185.
“The Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun report chairman and chief researcher.
The current rich list predominantly comprises entrepreneurs from the technology, consumer electronics and new energy space, from what used to be dominated by real estate developers, Hoogewerf noted.
“The stories of the individuals on the Hurun China Rich List tell the story of the Chinese economy,” he said.
The new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs are also more international than their predecessors, Hoogewerf observed, citing how ByteDance’s Zhang went global with TikTok and Pinduoduo’s Huang crafted Temu’s ascent as a global e-commerce hub.
China’s new energy industry is key in creating wealth, says Rupert Hoogewerf at the Hurun website, reporting on the Global Unicorn Index 2024. “In the latest Hurun China Top 500, new energy has risen to fifth place, with 36 companies making the cut. This was significantly up on just five years ago, when there were a mere 14 new energy companies, making the industry not even a Top 10,” says Rupert Hoogewerf.
Rupert Hoogewerf:
“The new energy industry is a strong driving force for urban development, which is not only a catalyst for economic transformation and sustainable development, but also an important indicator to measure the city’s innovation, talent and industrial attractiveness. China’s major cities are exploring their own new energy-related value, which is critical to the overall development of China’s new energy industry chain. We created this list to recognize cities that have made significant achievements in the field of new energy, while encouraging more cities to play a part in building a sustainable green future.”
“In the latest Hurun Global 500, Tesla led a group of only five new energy companies that made the list. 3 were from China, CATL, BYD and Li Auto, whilst two were froim the US, led by Tesla and Florida-based Nextera Energy.
“In the latest Hurun China Top 500, new energy has risen to fifth place, with 36 companies making the cut. This was significantly up on just five years ago, when there were a mere 14 new energy companies, making the industry not even a Top 10.”
“In the Global Unicorn Index 2024, there were 58 new energy-related companies, of which 41 were in China and in the latest edition of the Hurun Future Unicorns (including Hurun Global Gazelle Index and Hurun Global Cheetah Index), there were 23 new energy-related companies.”
“China’s new energy story can also be inspired by the stories of entrepreneurs on our Hurun China Rich List. The first wave of new energy entrepreneurs was represented by Shi Zhengrong of Wuxi Suntech in 2006, the second wave was Li Hejun of Hanergy in 2014, and the third wave was Robin Zeng Yuqun of CATL in 2021. All of them made the Top 5 of the Hurun China Rich List. This is now the fourth wave, and while none of them have made it into the Top 5, there are far more of them than before.”
“China’s energy transition investment was significant last year, reaching US$676bn. By comparison, the total energy transition investments of the EU, US and UK combined came to US$718bn. China topped the world in many segments of new energy, and it is interesting that these advantages are scattered across many cities in China, with different cities exploring their own advantages. Some areas have geographical advantages, such as high altitude and thin air in the Northwest, which has a small weakening effect on solar radiation, while the Northwest has little rainfall and rich light resources, which is suitable for the development of photovoltaic industry. Some regions have advantages in natural resources, such as Jiangxi, which has rich lithium reserves. Some cities have industrial base advantages, for example, in the 1960s, Sichuan began to study polysilicon. Some cities, such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, have a complete technology ecosystem that is more conducive to the development of system-level products.”
“Going global has become a very important trend for China’s new energy industry. Many of China’s leading new energy companies now have almost half of their sales from overseas markets, mainly Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.”
“Many new energy vehicles and photovoltaic companies in China are now in the forefront of the world. Competition between cities and companies is likely to cause companies to lose money in the short to medium term, with the share prices of many leading companies down by up to 80% from their peak in 2021.”
“Eastern China has a prominent advantage in the field of new energy, and 25 cities on the list are from Eastern China, accounting for half of the cities from our list. Jiangsu has been the province with the highest concentration of new energy for three consecutive years, with a total of 10 cities on the list, one province accounting for one-fifth of the entire list, and with the cities of Changzhou and Suzhou both making the Hurun New Energy Top 5.”
The metaverse is poised to grow fast in the coming three years, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, who published a report about the industry, according to the state-owned China Daily. Technology giant Huawei tops the list with the greatest potential in the metaverse for the first time, followed by Alibaba, Baidu, China Telecom and China Mobile.
The China Daily:
China’s metaverse-related industry is expected to grow fast in the next three years, thanks to continuing maturity and the application of key technologies including 5G, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing and virtual reality, according to an industrial report.
“Whether it’s entertainment, social media, online education, telecommuting, or digital marketing, the metaverse can offer entirely new experiences and models in the years ahead,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report.
Hoogewerf made the remarks after the Hurun Research Institute released a ranking report of 200 Chinese companies with the greatest potential in the metaverse in 2024 in Nansha district of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, in late August.
“The metaverse is considered a strategic emerging industry and will accelerate the promotion of Nansha to become an innovation highland and emerging industry incubation highland in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,” said Hoogewerf.
The report refers to companies based in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. For the main list, companies considered have a value of $1 billion or more.
“There has been a clear trend of metaverse-related businesses in the past three years, especially in the fields of education, finance, tourism and healthcare,” said Hoogewerf.
Technology giant Huawei tops the list with the greatest potential in the metaverse for the first time, followed by Alibaba, Baidu, China Telecom and China Mobile.
China’s economy is facing rough weather, but while the luxury market has its problems, some segments are doing better than ever, says Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher at the Hurun Report. And more important, the happiness of China’s high net worth individuals is increasing he adds at the 20th anniversary of the Hurun Best of the Best Awards.
Rupert Hoogewerf:
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Hurun Best of the Best Awards, our 20th year of tracking the brand choices and lifestyle changes of China’s luxury consumers.”
“Although the size of the luxury car market, defined as cars costing over CNY500,000, has continued to shrink, the size of other premium industries has basically increased, especially the likes of luxury travel and traditional luxury, bringing the overall size of China’s premium market up 3% to CNY1.7tn. In China, this is one of the rare trillion-Yuan industries, others including elderly care, automobiles, real estate, etc… China’s luxury consumers are now undoubtedly the world’s biggest spenders when it comes to luxury in the world.”
“With the global economy facing many uncertainties, the Hurun Economic Confidence Index of China’s high net worth individuals has declined for the second year, but is still at a high level compared with the past. This year, the Hurun Happiness Index is at its highest level for a decade, especially for Generation X and in terms of family life.”
“In the coming year, China’s HNWIs surveyed plan to increase their investments in gold, funds and bank deposits, and decrease their investments in real estate, both for residential and commercial, and art.”
“Gifting continues to be on the rise again, with Chinese HNWI males preferring to gift watches, baijiu and electronic products.”
“The priorities of China’s HNWIs have changed dramatically. ‘Health’ becomes the most important thing. High net worth individuals also increased their enthusiasm for exercise by 20%. The UHNWIs demand nutritionists and family doctors more than investment advisers.”
The Hurun Research Institute released the Hurun Most Successful Chinese Heritage Brands 2023, for the fourth year, ranking the 100 most successful brands from China with at least 60 years or more of history. “TCM, Baijiu and Foods make up half of the brands on the Hurun Most Successful Chinese Heritage Brands 2023, showing the sectors that have had the deepest impact over generations of Chinese consumers,” says Rupert Hoogewerf, the Hurun chief researcher at the Hurun website.
The three main pillars of this list were the age of the brand, representing 40% of the total index; the value of the brand, defined as market cap for listed companies and recent valuation for non-listed companies, representing 40% of the total; and cultural heritage, representing 20% of the total.
Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Chairman and Chief Researcher said: “This is the fourth year of the Hurun Most Successful Chinese Heritage Brands, and this year we added 14 new brands to the mix, including well-known brands, such as Jian Nan Chun Chiew, HengYuanXiang and Arctic Ocean Soda.”
“TCM, Baijiu and Foods make up half of the brands on the Hurun Most Successful Chinese Heritage Brands 2023, showing the sectors that have had the deepest impact over generations of Chinese consumers.”
“The average age of the brands on the list is 161 years old, among which the youngest is Jinhui, a 63-year-old baijiu brand, and the oldest is Yiyuanqing, a Shanxi vinegar brand, which is 646 years old.”
“Most of the brands on this list predate pinyin spelling, so for brands that had an historical link outside of China, they use the pre-pinyin English spelling of their brand. For example, ‘Kweichow Moutai’ in pinyin would be spelt ‘Guizhou Maotai’.”
“Nearly 70% of the brands on the list are in East China and North China, with 44 brands from East China, including 13 from Shanghai and 8 from Zhejiang and Anhui respectively. 25 brands are from North China, with Beijing contributing 18 of them.”
The number of philanthropists on the annual Hurun Philanthropy List keeps on growing, despite the financial problems many have. The Country Garden founder and his daughter top in 2023, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report with 34 tycoons making the 100 million yuan threshold, according to the South China Morning Post.
The South China Morning Post:
The founder and chairman of indebted property developer Country Garden top a list of 34 Chinese business magnates who each promised to give away at least 100 million yuan (US$13.7 million) to charitable causes in the last year…
The troubled, debt-ridden real estate sector is still the “main source of donations” on the philanthropy list, as well as the main source of wealth on Hurun’s list of rich individuals, said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report…
“Whilst philanthropy is not keeping up with wealth creation, the number of individuals donating 100 million yuan or more in a year has risen to 34 this year from two 20 years ago,” Hoogewerf said.
The 2023 Hurun China rich list sees changes, and Rupert Hoogewerf, the Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, sees efforts to go global as a key factor for growing riches, he tells Reuters. PDD’s Temu, ByteDance’s short-video platform TikTok, and ultra-fast fashion brand Shein he sees as examples.
Reuters:
The founder of PDD Holdings saw his wealth swell by US$13.8 billion (S$18.8 billion) in a year, as a slowing global economy drove more shoppers to the Chinese company’s discount e-commerce platforms Temu and Pinduoduo, an annual rich list showed on Tuesday.
Mr Colin Huang, who founded PDD in 2015 and stepped down as chief executive in 2020, was the fastest riser in 2023’s Hurun Rich List, leaping seven places to be ranked China’s third-richest man, with a US$37.2 billion fortune. It also marked the first time he had broken into the top three ranking.
The growth of his fortune reflects the changing e-commerce landscape both in China, where consumer confidence remains low after three years of Covid-19 curbs, and abroad, where shopping platforms such as Temu and Shein are gaining steam. PDD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Billionaire Jack Ma, founder of rival Alibaba, which is currently going through a restructuring and working to fend off competition from the likes of PDD, fell one place from 2022 to the 10th spot.
The number of Alibaba shareholders on the list, which ranks China’s wealthiest people with a minimum net worth of 5 billion yuan (S$952.4 million), fell from 18 in 2022 to 12 this year.
Mr Richard Liu, who founded e-commerce giant JD.com, saw his wealth, and that of his wife Zhang Zetian, fall by US$6.2 billion since 2022 to US$8.26 billion, according to Hurun’s list.
JD.com’s shares fell to a record low earlier in October after banks cut its price targets, citing a weaker-than-expected recovery in consumer spending.
“Going global has been one of the key sources of growth this year,” said Mr Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, citing PDD’s Temu, ByteDance’s short-video platform TikTok and ultra-fast fashion brand Shein as examples.
The founder of bottled water brand Nongfu Spring, Mr Zhong Shanshan, retained his first place on the list for the third year running, with a US$62 billion fortune; while Mr Pony Ma, founder of social media and gaming giant Tencent, was second, with US$38.6 billion.
Based on sales in public auctions, Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun China Rich List, presents the 16th Hurun China Art List, with the 100 most successful artists living in China last year. With a total of US$347mn, the figures dropped dramatically because of the Covid-19 crisis. It still shows amazing financial firepower, promising much for the future, Hoogewerf adds.
Hurun rich-list founder Rupert Hoogewerf visited the recent 10th Arab-China Conference in Riyadh and explains why China's economic interests are moving in the direction of the Arab world: new energy, building infrastructure, and rapid industrialization, he tells at Arab News.
Arab News:
He said Chinese investors appeared keen on exploring the region’s markets, particularly Saudi Arabia. With the emergence of new sectors such as renewable energy, fast-growing real estate, and rapid industrialization in the region, there are huge opportunities for Chinese entrepreneurs, he added.
Hoogerwerf said China has a large number of “young companies that are innovative” and are interested in entering the Saudi market.
He said cheap energy prices make setting up bases in the Kingdom a lucrative proposition for manufacturing companies. “And of course, there is a lot of ambition to construct new infrastructure here,” he added.
The researcher said Chinese companies have the required expertise and willingness to drive growth in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia.
He said he brought two Chinese companies with him to explore the Saudi market and launch operations in the Kingdom. One of the companies is a top manufacturer of solar panels, Hoogerwerf told Arab News. He said the company is in talks with Saudi partners to start manufacturing operations here as the Kingdom is also making efforts to transition from traditional to renewable and sustainable energy sources.
The other company, he said, is a real estate giant and visiting the Kingdom for the first time.
Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.
Young entrepreneurs should dream bigger, says Hurun chairman Rupert Hoogewerf, publisher of the Hurun China Rich List, based on his talks with many rich in China.
The number of unicorns, companies worth more than US$1 billion, exploded globally over the past three years, despite the slowdown caused by Covid-19, says Hurun chairman Rupert Hoogewerf during the release of the Global Unicorn Index 2023 by Hurun Research Institute, at the China Daily. Especially the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) did very well, the report says.
The China Daily:
A total of 63 companies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have made it onto the Global Unicorn Index 2023 by Hurun Research Institute, an increase of 12 compared to a year earlier and double the number listed on the index before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the top 10 unicorns from China listed on the global 2023 index, half are in the GBA, including Guangzhou-based fast fashion platform Shein (ranking 4th), Shenzhen-based digital bank WeBank (ranking 6th), Dongguan-based mobile phone makers Oppo and Vivo, and Shenzhen-based drone maker DJI. …
According to the index, Guangzhou was the Chinese city with the fastest growing number of unicorns in the past year. There were 22 unicorns from Guangzhou in the latest ranking, 12 more than a year earlier.
“The three years after the COVID-19 outbreak were the most active period for unicorns. Over the past three years, a new unicorn was created every day in the world, bringing the total to more than 1,360. Despite economic slowdown, there were over 500 new unicorns globally in the past year, which is equivalent to nearly 10 each week on average,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun index.
He said unicorn companies grew rapidly in the first half of 2022, but slowed down significantly in the second half.
“That was because of the US interest rate hikes, the global economic downturn and uncertainties (which) led to investment institutions nearly halting the funding of new projects. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank further lowered valuations.”
Even during the current economic headwinds, private brands continue to get the trust of China’s consumers, says Hurun chairman Rupert Hoogewerf, among the 2022 China Hurun Brands’List, where Shanghai-listed Kweichow Moutai even outranked the technology giants as Tencent and Alibaba, reports the South China Morning Post.
The South China Morning Post:
Shanghai-listed Kweichow Moutai was the most valuable Chinese brand for a fifth straight year, according to the 2022 Hurun Brands List. The liquor maker, which is also one of the most valuable stocks in the country, was the only brand on the list with value of more than 1 trillion yuan (US$145.2 billion).
The liquor giant’s brand value – measured through openly available economic data and surveys among consumers – was equivalent to the total values of the next six brands that followed it on the list: Shenzhen-listed liquor maker Wuliangye Yibin, Shanghai Tobacco’s China Tobacco, ByteDance’s Douyin, WeChat and parent firm Tencent Holdings, and JD.com, Hurun said. The rankings have been calculated according to the market value of listed companies based on their stocks’ closing prices on July 29 last year, and their peers’ price-to-earnings ratios for private firms.
“Chinese consumers’ trust in private brands has obviously strengthened in the recent few years. [About] 62 per cent of the companies in the ranking were brands by the private sector, compared with 61 per cent a year ago and 39 per cent a decade ago,” Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s chairman, said in a statement.
China lost 229 billionaires in the last year as a faltering economy, sliding stocks and a depreciating yuan hit the country’s super-rich harder than their peers in any other nation, according to a new list published by Hurun Report. Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, “Chinese entrepreneurs will actively look to expand abroad from this year as they have a global perspective,” says Hoogewerf, according to the South China Morning Post.
The South China Morning Post:
The total wealth of the listed Chinese billionaires, which includes 77 people from Hong Kong and 46 from Taiwan, plummeted 15 per cent, compared to a loss of 10 per cent in net worth globally. A total of 26 Chinese tycoons rank among the world’s 100 richest people.
“Interest rate hikes, the appreciation of the US dollar, the popping of a Covid-19-driven tech bubble and the continued impact of the Russia-Ukraine war have all combined to hurt stock markets,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, a consultancy…
“Chinese entrepreneurs will actively look to expand abroad from this year as they have a global perspective,” said Hoogewerf. “The reopening give them opportunities to copy their growth model [in China] to other countries.”
Overall, China remains the biggest source of known billionaires, with the total number standing at 969 – 40 per cent more than the US with 691.
The two countries together account for 53 per cent of the total 3,112 billionaires globally.
