Beijing: The numbers of millionaires may be rising steeply in China, but their life span appears to be shorter than average Chinese as studies showed 72 of them died young in the last eight years.
The Chinese multimillionaires, whose personal assets exceeded 100 million yuan (USD 15.51 million), have died of unnatural causes or passed away at a young age since 2003, according to a report. Fifteen were murdered for their wealth, 17 committed suicides, seven died in accidents, 14 were executed and 19 others died at an early age due to illness, New Culture View newspaper reported on Friday.
The average age of those who died from illness was only 48, with cardiovascular ailments and cancer the biggest killers.
Wang Junyao, chairman of Junyao Group, died of cancer at the age of 38 in November 2004. Long-time anxiety, high pressure and excessive social activities all contributed to their sickness, the report said.
“Chinese people live on average more than 70 years. The millionaires obviously died earlier than average,” said Ding Chunsheng, director of the health education centre in Changchun, capital city of Jilin Province.
Most of the suicides in this group were attributed to business failures. Fifteen millionaires were murdered for their wealth by either a friend, partner or competitor. Fourteen millionaires, who accumulated their fortunes via illegal means, were executed.
According to the Hurun Rich List, 55,000 people on the Chinese mainland had assets of more than 100 million yuan in 2009. China already has the second highest number of billionaires.
According to Frobes magazine, China has about 64 billionaires against United States 117. According to Boston Consulting Group China has 6.7 lakh people with over million dollar income ranking third after US and Japan. (PTI)
