(Yicai Global) June 6 -- There were 1.97 million Chinese individuals with over CNY10 million (USD1.5 million) in investable assets held in their home country as of last year, an indication that investors have restored faith in China's economy as it further opens up to the rest of the world.

The millionaires had a combined CNY61 trillion (USD8.8 trillion) worth of investable assets in China, according to a report published by China Merchants Bank and management consultancy Bain & Co yesterday. Some 23 provinces and cities were home to over 20,000 such individuals, with the top five filled out by the usual suspects: Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Wealthy individuals were only willing to invest overseas in order to diversify risk in the midst of ongoing international turbulence, the report said. More and more people have been re-shoring their assets thanks to China's largely stable development in the Belt and Road Initiative and its continued opening up of the domestic capital market.

The two firms have been issuing the report bi-annually since 2011, with the latest issue based on 3,000 questionnaires and over 100 in-depth interviews with private bank clients, account managers, industry experts and high net worth individuals in 44 cities across China.

Middle and senior managers at emerging tech firms, such as those focused on web-based and smart technologies, made up 36 percent of China's high net worth individuals last year, up from 29 percent in 2017, according to the report.

Editor: James Boynton