Lists are about more than money

Provided to China Daiy

Collating names of the rich, the powerful and the creative has become this man's vocation, Wang Mingjie reports.

Rupert Hoogewerf, the publisher of the Hu-run Report, said that if you understand the story of wealthy Chinese you will understand the story of modern China.

The Hurun Report, viewed as the voice of the Chinese entrepreneur, is best known for its China Rich List, which has been published since 1999, and which ranks the wealthiest individuals in China.

"The key thing I do is try to encourage transparency, because if you can be transparent, that means you can take responsibility," said Hoogewerf, also known as Hu Run. "If you can take responsibility, that means you are probably good for society."

He commended Jack Ma, the founder of the e-commerce company Alibaba, saying that even though his business is complex and large, he is transparent.

"Everybody knows what he is doing, which means he must be responsible, otherwise he will get into a lot of trouble.

"What makes the Chinese entrepreneurs very interesting for me is that they are learning together and building the experience together. That makes a very fast-growing and dynamic group of people, which I think by comparison that the United Kingdom does not have."

Because of economies of scale and market size, there are now an estimated 300 million middle-class people in China, which is probably one of the largest middle-class groups in the world, Hoogewerf said.

Dictionaries define middle class as a group of people, often salaried and educated, with disposable income.

"If you can build a brand, an image or a business for 300 million people in China, by definition you have the biggest market in the world. You will be the leader in that particular market, and when you go overseas you can build leadership using your foundation in China. And if you win in China, you will have a very good chance of winning in the world."

In addition to the rich list, since 2004 Hurun Report has published the Hurun Philanthropy List, a ranking of the most generous individuals in China. These days the list is more about impact investing than mere donation, Hoogewerf said.

Impact investing is making a decision to reduce the time to achieve the goal, he said.

"For example Jack Ma and Ma Huateng; those two people have made China digital faster."

If it were not for Jack Ma and Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent Holdings, China would still be digital, but it would have come 10 years later, Hoogewerf said.

"Those two people sped up digitalization in China, and then they became leaders not only in China but also the whole world.

"They changed the country, and almost everyone in China uses WeChat, Alipay and Taobao. If they did not do it or did it five or 10 years later, China would have lost the leadership in the world. To me, it is about impact."

The Hurun Art Foundation is another example, he said.

"We wanted to find some key performance indicators to promote Chinese culture and art both domestically and internationally through research, exhibitions and promotion, making people more aware of Chinese art and understanding it better. That's impact investing, not just pure donation."

About 10 years ago Hoogewerf concluded that the most successful and expensive Chinese art was bought by non-Chinese, so he created the Hurun Art List, which ranks the most successful artist alive in China. The aim is to encourage non-collectors to be collectors, he said. It is for people outside the art industry.

The list drew a lot of attention from artists because it aimed to attract new collectors and it became a benchmark for non-collectors to kick start their collections. The Hurun Art Foundation, a non-profit organization, was then set up because Hoogewerf realized that more up and comingartists needed support, over and above the well-known artists.

Every month the Hurun Art Foundation promotes one artist, using its media platform in China, and an event is staged to promote him or her.

These artists are not that well known and the cost of their works ranges from $7,000 to $20,000, which is far less than that of well-known artists, Hoogewerf said.

"But they are good and contemporary, and they tell the story of modern China through the eyes of the artists. The artists have one common thread, and that is we hope they will be on the Hurun Art List in five years."

He is keen on taking the exhibition of Chinese artists to London and New York next year, one month in each location.

"If you get recognized as a Chinese artist by the London or New York trade, it is very good for your sales in China, because the global art market is dominated by London and New York.

"If we can build the Hurun Art Foundation into a credible and serious platform we will create more value for these artists."

Contact the writer at wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com