One in every 175 people living in Shanghai has personal wealth of more than 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million), the Hurun Research Institute said yesterday.

Property tycoon Eddie Ye, chairman of Super Ocean Group, is the richest Shanghai native with 15 billion yuan, the report said.

A total of 132,000 individuals in the city have more than 10 million yuan in personal assets, 8.2 percent higher from last year, mostly due to the rapid development of Shanghai's economy and property market.

There are 80 individuals with personal wealth of at least US$1 billion as of May, the report, issued jointly with wealth management company Gao Fu Club, said.

Some 55 percent earned their wealth from private business, 20 percent were property speculators, 15 percent stock market gurus and 10 percent company executives, it said.

Data from China's statistics bureau showed that new home prices in 70 cities were up 13.7 percent on average from a year earlier. A report by Knight Frank, a London-based company, said high-end property prices rose 21 percent in Shanghai last year, the fastest in the world.

"Shanghai's rapid economic development and exploding real estate market has created a situation where 1 in every 175 people in Shanghai are millionaires," said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun's chairman and chief researcher. "These figures should certainly prick the ears of luxury brands around the world."

The report estimates that there are 350 yuan-billionaires living in Shanghai today, of whom 109 were on the Hurun Rich List in 2010.

"There is still a great deal of hidden wealth in the Chinese economy," Hoogewerf said. "We estimate there are 4,000 yuan-billionaires in China, with only a third making the Hurun Rich List."

Liu Yiqian, chairman of Sunline Group, an investment firm, was the second richest Shanghai native with 10 billion yuan.

Pig feed king and property investor Liu Yongxing, chairman of East Hope Group, is the richest non-native individual living in Shanghai, with personal assets of 35 billion yuan.

Basketball star Yao Ming, 30, is the youngest Shanghai native with wealth of more than US$1 billion.

None of the Shanghai native super-rich made it onto the Hurun Philanthropy List 2011.

The Cao Dewang family topped that list with donations of nearly 4.6 billion yuan in 2010. A total of 23 philanthropists donated more than 100 million yuan in 2010.

China's mainland is now home for 960,000 individuals with personal wealth of more than 10 million yuan.