China counts over 100 billionaires among legislators

China counts more than 100 billionaires among its top legislators, with 209 of the richest holding wealth nearly equivalent to Belgium’s annual GDP, according to a report released as the Communist Party’s annual parliamentary session started yesterday. A key focus of the sessions is eliminating poverty and creating a “moderately prosperous society”, a project President Xi Jinping has frequently cited as a national priority in a country that suffers from a gaping chasm between the rich and poor. The annual session of the country’s top political bodies started yesterday with a meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a group that is part of the Communist Party-controlled government structure.  The opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s legislature, will be held Sunday, with the country’s economic elite and top leaders rubbing shoulders for some two weeks in the imposing corridors of the Great Hall of the People, situated off Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Out of the more than 5,100 delegates to these two assemblies, 209 possess individual wealth of more than 2bn yuan ($290mn), Shanghai-based luxury magazine publisher the Hurun Report said in a survey.  More than 100 of the wealthy individuals are members of the NPC, and 97 are from the CPPCC.  According to the survey, their cumulative assets tallied “almost 3.5tn yuan” ($507bn) — nearly equivalent to the annual GDP of countries such as Belgium, Sweden or Poland.  The majority of the wealthy delegates were businessmen, rather than politicians who had spent their careers within the party apparatus.  Among them are the heads of Internet giants, such as Pony Ma of Tencent and Robin Li of Baidu, smartphone maker Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun, and Zong Qinghou, head of soft drink producer Wahaha.