Why more Chinese women are taking over the family firm or starting their own business
Wealthy families are tending to treat their sons and daughters more equally when it comes to succession planning, say experts
Changing attitudes towards succession planning are paving the way for more women to take over family businesses or to start up their own companies, according to experts.
The fact women now often enjoy equal rights when it comes to succession and receiving their share of the family wealth may be one of the reasons behind the rising number of female billionaires in the country. The 50 richest women in China own assets worth 23.1 billion yuan (US$3.48 billion) on average, or a combined 1.2 trillion yuan, up almost 50 per cent from last year, according to a Hurun Report issued last month.
The threshold to rank among China’s 50 wealthiest women was 10 billion yuan this year, up nine times from a decade ago.
Yang Huiyan, the 36-year-old vice-chairwoman of property developer Country Garden, with a 56 per cent stake, is the wealthiest woman in the country. Her holding in the company was transferred to her by her father, Yeung Kwok-keung, the founder and chairman.
“In the old days, it was true that boys usually were more in favour than girls in terms of inheriting the wealth of the family,” said Fan Choi, managing director and head of wealth planning North Asia at Union Bancaire Privee, UBP SA Hong Kong Branch.
