According to a recent report released by the Hurun Research Institute, the number of high-net-worth households in China decreased to approximately 2.06 million in 2025, marking the third decline in 16 years. Facing strengthened audits by the tax department, continued stagnation in the real estate market, and increased economic uncertainty, wealthy individuals in China are selling properties and adjusting their asset allocations. Experts believe that these changes reflect a decrease in China’s economic vitality, a rise in institutional risks, and a shift from a “wealth creation period” to a “wealth preservation period.”
The joint white paper “Wan Tong Insurance·Hurun Wealth Report 2025: Financial Investment Needs and Trends of High Net Worth Individuals in China” released by the Hurun Research Institute and Wan Tong Insurance shows that as of 2025, there are approximately 2.066 million high-net-worth households in China with net assets exceeding 10 million yuan. This represents a decrease of 17,000 households, a drop of 0.8% compared to the previous year. The number of ultra-high-net-worth households with assets exceeding 100 million yuan is 130,000, a decrease of 2,200 households, down by 1.7%.
This marks the third decline in the number of high-net-worth households in China in the past 16 years, with previous declines occurring in 2019 and 2023.
A survey included in the report of 500 high-net-worth individuals, with an average age of 44 and an average net family asset of 37 million yuan, of which more than half are business owners.
In terms of regional distribution, Guangdong continues to lead with 298,000 high-net-worth households, followed by Beijing with 297,000 households and Shanghai with 263,000 households. Shenzhen saw the largest decrease in the number of high-net-worth households, dropping by 2.3% compared to the previous year.
Regarding asset allocation, the report shows that the top three assets high-net-worth individuals plan to increase allocation to in the coming year are insurance (47%), gold (42%), and stocks (34%).
Additionally, 25% of the respondents plan to reduce their holdings of bank savings and money market funds, while 19% plan to decrease their investments in real estate and land.
Notably, 45% of high-net-worth individuals already hold overseas financial assets, accounting for an average of 20% of their investment portfolio, with 56% planning to increase this percentage in the coming year.
Chinese issues expert Wang He pointed out in an interview that the decrease in the number of high-net-worth households reflects a severe impact of the economy on the middle class in China.
He stated that in recent years, with falling housing prices and underperforming stock and financial products, residents’ wealth has generally shrunk; the declining profitability in the manufacturing industry has increased operating pressures on enterprises, leading to a double squeeze on the middle class and business owners.
Regarding the real estate sector, Wang He believes that there is a structural mismatch between the high property prices built over the years and the ongoing decrease in the population, resulting in slowing new home sales with the market yet to bottom out.
“In the current risk environment, the uncertainty in stocks and real estate is rising, making gold a more favored defensive asset,” he said.
American economist Davy J. Wong analyzed from an institutional perspective that the changes in asset allocation of high-net-worth individuals are mainly attributed to three factors.
Firstly, the liquidity of real estate has decreased, prices are declining, and transactions are becoming difficult, making assets easily locked up for the long term.
Secondly, uncertainties in policies, taxes, inheritance arrangements, etc., have weakened the property’s hedge properties; thirdly, changes in market expectations with the belief of “only rising and not falling” breaking down, leading to insurance and gold becoming defensive allocations.
He pointed out that the decline in the number of high-net-worth households reflects the simultaneous decline of real estate and the private economy in China, with some “paper-rich” individuals exiting the statistics due to asset shrinkage; meanwhile, capital outflows and immigration factors have led to some high-net-worth individuals no longer being included in China’s statistical system.
“More importantly, the inadequate replenishment of the new rich class indicates that the mechanism for wealth creation is being restricted, and China is transitioning from a wealth creation phase to a wealth preservation phase,” he said.
While the wealth of the rich is shrinking, the Chinese Communist Party’s tax authority is increasing its scrutiny on high-income and high-net-worth individuals.
On December 8, 2025, Director of the Policy and Regulation Department of the State Administration of Taxation of the Communist Party of China revealed that in the first 11 months of the year, tax authorities have dealt with 1,818 “high-income, high-net-worth” individuals, reclaiming taxes amounting to 1.523 billion yuan, involving groups such as celebrities and internet influencers.
The so-called “high-income, high-net-worth” individuals referred to by the tax authorities include those with an annual income exceeding 1 million yuan or investable assets exceeding 10 million yuan.
Since July 2025, tax authorities in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and other regions have required certain corporate executives and individuals with overseas assets to report their past five years of foreign income and pay personal income tax. In November, Beijing, Fujian, Guangdong, Xiamen, Shenzhen, and Sichuan issued similar tax supplement notices.
Multiple investors have indicated to “Caijing Magazine” that the tax supplements mainly involve foreign income for the years 2022 and 2023.
Behind these series of changes lies the deep-seated dilemma facing the Chinese economy.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance of the Chinese Communist Party, in the first three quarters of 2022 (the third year of COVID-19 lockdowns in China), the national fiscal deficit reached 7.16 trillion yuan, a significant increase compared to the same period in 2021; tax revenue has declined noticeably.
In November 2022, the Shenzhen Tax Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation issued a bidding announcement to establish the fourth phase construction project of the natural person tax revenue application platform, aiming to improve the tax management system focusing on high-income and high-net-worth individuals.
Wang He pointed out that despite capital controls still in place, some funds are retained overseas through trade settlements, among other means, as “the expansion of trade surplus did not lead to a synchronous increase in foreign exchange reserves.”
Regarding the trend of increased allocation of overseas assets, Wang He stated that while it is challenging to move capital out of the country, various signs indicate that Chinese funds lack confidence in the domestic economy.
In the report, Chairman and Chief Research Officer of the Hurun Group, Hu Run, stated that the wealth management behavior of high-net-worth individuals is often seen as a significant barometer for the market.
The report indicates that in the coming year, high-net-worth individuals plan to increase their spending on their children’s education and healthcare while reducing expenditures on luxury goods, social events, entertainment, and other non-essential expenses, showing an overall shift towards cautious consumption.