Asia sprouted a new crop of millionaires over the past year, with growth of wealth in China topping the charts.

According to a report this week by Credit Suisse, the country now has 6% of the world's total of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, or those with fortunes in excess of $50 million. That's second only to the United States, which commands nearly half the world's total.

Fan Cheuk-wan of Credit Suisse credited such growth in China to the country's capital market's development and the large number of companies being listed during the period the report covered -- mid-2012 to mid-2013. "This has created many new billionaires in China," said Ms. Fan, chief investment officer of the company's Asian private banking and wealth management division. Between 2005 and 2010, the number of billionaires in China grew from two to 64.

"It also implies a widening of wealth inequality," she added. According to a survey by researchers at China's Southwestern University of Finance, the top 1% of Chinese families own some $1.6 million in assets, compared to an average of $368,000 per Chinese family.

Credit Suisse's report, which charted the changes in wealth in 216 countries, found that total global wealth has reached an all-time high of $241 trillion—up by more than two-thirds since 2003. Household wealth in China grew by 7%, faster than the global average of 5%.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan's wealth dropped 21% in dollar terms, thanks to the depreciation of the yen against the U.S. dollar. The country was the only one in Asia to experience a decline during the period. But Ms. Fan noted that in yen terms, household wealth in Japan actually increased by 1.8%.

In Hong Kong, the number of millionaires has now notched 103,000, up 9% from 2012, thanks to strong appreciation in property prices and the stock market.

Meanwhile, household wealth in North America rose by 12% to reach $79 trillion, making it the world's wealthiest region for the first time since 2005. Growth was powered in the U.S. by a recovery in house prices and a strong stock market performance.

Still, Asia-Pacific is expected to overtake North America as the wealthiest region in the world by 2017, Credit Suisse said. In China, the expected emphasis of future reforms on market deregulation should create more private-sector opportunities, particularly for entrepreneurs, Ms. Fan said.

--Te-Ping Chen

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