Rich Chinese show rising optimism on economy, survey

BEIJING - More than 90 percent of rich Chinese are optimistic about the country's future economic development, a survey by Hurun has shown.

The survey polled 463 individuals, each with personal assets worth more than 10 million yuan ($1.57 million).

About 94 percent of the surveyed are upbeat about the Chinese economy's prospects in the next two years, up by 3 percentage points compared with last year.

Among them, nearly half show strong optimism on Chinese economy, compared with just 28 percent in 2017, the biggest growth in 14 years.

The report attributed the growing confidence to China's stronger-than-expected GDP growth in 2017 and positive signals sent by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in October.

About 58 percent of non-immigrant respondents said they had no interest in emigrating to other counties, the highest ratio ever surveyed.

The survey also revealed that real estate was still the top investment preference for China's rich, despite a slight drop in interest.

Tourism remains the favorite recreation for China's rich, with the Maldives being the most popular overseas travel destination and Sanya the domestic one.