Super rich find creative ways to manage health as well as wealth

Favorite sports for Chinese wealthy also include golf, riding horses and sailing.[Photo/China Daily]

They are also ready to spend on property, artwork and watches.

The lives of the super rich are always of great interest to ordinary people. How billionaires snowball their personal wealth, what they do in their leisure time, how many days a year they spend on business trips, what kind of gifts they send to their friends and relatives－even their astrological or Chinese zodiac signs－are probed, apparently giving inspiration or setting trends.

The number of rich people has been expanding in China over the past few years. According to the Hurun Report, the Shanghai-based media group that documents every aspect of the rising ranks of the Chinese rich, more than 2.9 million Chinese people had personal wealth of more than 6 million yuan ($976,100) by the end of last year－100,000 more than a year earlier.

The number of rich people with personal wealth of over 100 million yuan increased by 2,500 to reach 67,000 by last year, the Hurun Report said.

Although the means by which these rich people accumulated wealth varies from person to person, their preferred ways of spending money are quite often the same. Their favorite investment, despite the recent downturns, is still property.

According to the Hurun Report, the current favorite property in Shanghai is a golf villa. The average price of a 350-square-meter golf villa in Shanghai has risen 6 million yuan this year to reach 25 million yuan. Such villas are eagerly pursued, the report said, since rich people seemingly believe they are "scarce resources worth investing in".

Another important area of investment by rich people is their personal health, according to Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.

"Basically, they manage their health by eating healthfully and exercising regularly," Hoogewerf said. "The second important thing is a regular medical checkup. Medical trips, medical clubs, and even placenta injection are more widely accepted by high-net-worth individuals."

As the Hurun Report has discovered, more than 80 percent of China's wealthy have a medical checkup annually, and 14 percent of them have one every six months.

One-fourth of the super rich in China get a physical checkup twice a year. About 40 percent of these rich people prefer overseas hospitals or organizations. The average expenditure for such a medical checkup is 1,500 yuan, but the super wealthy are likely to spend 3,500 yuan each time.

Zhang Hongyi, the Shanghai-based chief executive officer of a joint venture between China and Switzerland, has a physical checkup once a year at a cost of 2,000 yuan each. Additionally, he visits his personal doctor at a foreign clinic in Shanghai every three months for health advice.

"For me, health is the most important thing," Zhang said. "I will not be able to fulfill my job without good health. It's worth investing in it."

He spends one hour every morning jogging, and he goes golfing if he has the time.

According to the Hurun Report, golf is one of the favorite sports among individuals with higher net worth. As a result, it is even more expensive now to be admitted into a golf club in Shanghai. The membership fee of the Sheshan International Golf Club in west Shanghai has risen from 2.3 million yuan last year to 2.7 million yuan this year.

Wealthy people also are huge collectors. Artworks, especially ancient Chinese calligraphy and paintings, are gaining popularity.

China's fourth-richest man, Wang Jianlin, who has a personal wealth of at least 90.3 billion yuan and is chairman of the privately-owned property developer Dalian Wanda Group, is very active in the art world. Last year, Wang spent 172 million yuan for a Picasso original at Christie's auction house in New York.