At a time when the world’s economies are struggling after the knockout hit by the emerging corona virus, a new report revealed that the richest people in China, where the virus first appeared, have grown richer and reached a record of $ 1.5 trillion over the past year.

And in China there are a total of 878 billionaires. And at the beginning of the year, 626 people were in that category in the United States, according to Huron's February list worldwide.

The report cited nearly 2,000 people each with a net worth of more than 2 billion yuan ($ 300 million) in August, or $ 4 trillion in total.

The chief researcher in the Huron report, Robert Hogwerf, commented on the situation by saying that "the world has not seen such wealth, which was gathered in just one year," according to Agence France-Presse.

He added that this year's list shows that China is "moving away from traditional sectors such as manufacturing and real estate, towards a new economy," according to what the British Daily Mail reported.

And the richest man in China, Jack Ma, saw his wealth rise by 45 per cent to 58.8 billion dollars, after the profits made by his e-commerce company "Alibaba" during the crisis.

He was followed by Bonnie Ma ($ 57.4 billion), the owner of Tencent Group, the electronic games and WeChat giant, whose fortune has accumulated 50 percent despite concerns about the prospects for his group's activity in the United States after threats to ban it due to national security concerns.

Jung Shanshan, 66, who is known for his brand of bottled water, Nongfu, made the list for the first time, ranking third with $ 53.7 billion, after an initial public offering of shares in the Hong Kong market in September, according to the report.

Wang Xing, founder of the Meituan food delivery app, quadrupled its fortune, jumping 52 places and ranked 13th on the list, with $ 25 billion, while Richard Liu, founder of online shopping platform JD.com (JD.com), doubled twice to reach 23. $ 5 billion.

Healthcare entrepreneurs also climbed the list on the background of the epidemic, as Jiang Rensheng, founder of vaccine manufacturer Geifi, tripled his fortune to $ 19.9 billion.

The urban unemployment rate fell by 5.4 percent in September, with analysts warning of higher unemployment numbers than officially announced this year.

China's economic recovery comes, with GDP growth of 4.9 percent announced in the latest figures released Monday, amid a recession in most other rich countries, which allowed Chinese companies to seize greater market shares.

It is noteworthy that these figures come after widespread accusations that Beijing has covered up the outbreak of the Corona virus in its early stages, which deprived other countries of the opportunity to prepare.

For its part, China responded angrily to calls for an international investigation, rejecting the accusations.

Source: Agencies

By:Nadeemy Haded