China's richest group has snatched up 1.59 trillion US dollars, or nearly two thirds of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005, trailing just behind Japan in the Asia-Pacific Region, according to an Asia-Pacific Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, writes ce.cn on October 13.

Li Wuchang, a 14-year-old boy (R) from Anhui province, performs by wrapping a steel bar around his neck as he begs for money on a street in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province October 10, 2006. [Reuters]

The report came to the public eye just days after the country's politburo members concluded their sixth plenum of the 16th National People's Congress of the CPC on Wednesday, reaching a unprecedented consensus on President Hu Jintao's 'Harmonious Society" doctrine.

One million US dollars apart from self-owned real estate is the bar set for inclusion in the richest group, according to the report.

The number of the wealthy has hit 320, 000 and the group's average per capita fortune has risen to five million US dollars, trailing behind China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the report says.

The Chinese mainland is in the sixth place in the region with an annual growth of 6.8 per cent in the increase of wealthy personages, says the report.

The numbers reflect the Chinese government's biggest threat and headache - the two polar inequalities and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

Top leaders, led by Hu, struggle to ease what they say will trigger social instability and public anger by raising the criterion of the lowest living standards and the starting point of the personal income tax. But speculation and uncertainty rise over the government's measures.

Li Wuchang, a 14-year-old boy from Anhui Province came into the limelight during the session according to the official Xinhua news agency, causing the session to focus on how to improve living standards for the country's low-income citizens and poor population.

Li wraps a steel bar around his neck as he begged for money on a street in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

Fuzhong Yi, a real estate tycoon from Hunan Province had his home painted with slogans by poor, angry residents, claiming that his fortune is worth nothing, and that a 'killer' will get what he deserves. But people's anger cannot thwart the pace of development in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Fuzhong Yi, a real estate tycoon from Hunan Province had his home painted with slogans by poor, angry residents, claiming that his fortune is worth nothing, and that a 'killer' will get what he deserves. [File]

The region is witnessing a fastest growth in the number of rich, says the report, adding that of the six markets that are undergoing a galloping development globally, five of them are in the region.

The report focuses on the Chinese mainland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The number of the richest people in the region jumped to 2.4 million, accounting for 27.1 per cent of the world total in 2005 and a growth of 7.3 per cent compared with the year 2004. The total volume of fortune that the region's richest hold hit 7.6 trillion, which is 8.0 per cent higher than that of 2004.