When the Communist Party elite gathered last month to anoint China's new leaders, some of the nation's richest people occupied coveted seats in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Liang Wengen, with an estimated fortune of $7.3 billion, took one of the seats. His construction-equipment maker Sany Heavy Industry Co. competes with Caterpillar Inc. Zhou Haijiang, a clothing mogul with an estimated $1.3 billion family fortune, also had a seat. As members of the Communist Party Congress,...