Rise in chinese billionaires prompts private jet boom

Flanked by an entourage of assistants and advisers, the Chinese mining tycoon Lian Guangming flitted from one luxury jet to another at the Asian Aerospace Expo in Hong Kong.

"Not bad," said Lian, from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region as he emerged from the plush, leather and wood paneled interior of a $55 million Bombardier Global Express XRS earlier this week. “If I like something, I’ll buy it.”

Forbes' latest global rich list showed the number of Chinese billionaires has doubled over the past year to 115, the first time any country outside the United States, which has 413 billionaires, has had more than 100. However, China only has around 200 private aircraft, according to official estimates, far fewer than the 11,000 in the United States.

US executives, including those at the government-owned General Motors Co, are now getting back on corporate Planes as the economy slowly recovers after the global financial crisis. Embraer Executive Jets SA forecasts a global market of more than 10,000 business jets, worth $210 billion in the next 10 years, with China expected to take the lion's share.

"It's very hard to know who will buy the next jet. They just pop out," said Daniel Amtmann, director of business development in China for Cessna Aircraft Co, on the new wave of Chinese buyers.

Source: Relax News