Chinese 'Donald Trump' Xu Jiayin is country's richest man

Named the richest man in China on Thursday with a net worth of $43 billion, property tycoon Xu Jiayin is likened by some media to Donald Trump, having built his fortune on a real estate business that has blossomed under a mountain of debt

Named the richest man in China on Thursday with a net worth of $43 billion, property tycoon Xu Jiayin is likened by some media to Donald Trump, having built his fortune on a real estate business that has blossomed under a mountain of debt. The 59-year-old Xu's China Evergrande Group has a market value of $47 billion, although its total debt stands at more than $100 billion.

Xu Jiayin. Pic/AFP

Thanks to a boom in the value of Chinese property assets, Xu's wealth has climbed by $30 billion in the past year to top the rich list compiled annually by the Hurun Report. Evergrande, whose shares have surged 480 percent this year, is now ranked as the country's third-largest developer by sales. Xu's political stock is also high with the ruling Communist Party. The State Council, China's cabinet, bestowed on him the title "National Model Worker" – one of the country's highest civilian honours.

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