Millionaires becoming a yuan a dozen on sizzling mainland

The ranks of mainland US-dollar millionaires grew 7.8 per cent to 345,000 last year as more people benefited from double-digit economic growth and soaring stock markets.

A report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said a flurry of initial public offerings by mainland companies helped create the new millionaires. Hong Kong saw a 12.2 per cent increase in the number to 86,618 - the 10th fastest growth in the world.

Developing countries with booming economies saw the fastest growth in millionaires last year, with the world's wealthiest seeing their investment portfolios grow by 11.4 per cent to US$37.2 trillion, according to the report. The number of millionaires worldwide rose by 8.3 per cent to 9.5 million.

'Strong economic growth and a robust performance in many of the region's stock markets worked together during 2006 to drive wealth creation in the Asia Pacific,' said Victor Tan, head of Merrill Lynch's private banking business in China.

Regions where the number of rich people were growing fastest were Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

The number of Asia-Pacific people with at least US$1 million in assets, not including their homes, rose 8.6 per cent to 2.6 million in 2006, and their collective wealth rose 10.5 per cent to US$8.4 trillion.