Millionaires hold dimmer view: Survey

Chinese millionaires mainly comprise four categories of people: private business owners, stock market gurus, property speculators and high-earning executives.

Avoiding risk is now the main investment guideline for millionaires, after the recent less-than-promising performance of the country's stock market and property market. Only 44 percent of millionaires showed an interest in the stock market, the lowest level in three years. Real estate remains the first choice when it comes to personal investments, despite the macro-adjustment measures, accounting for 64 percent of all investments.

Following the craze for studying abroad, there is now also an increasingly clear tendency to buy overseas property, with the United States the top destination.

Huang Ying, 31, bought a house in Los Angeles last month for about $2.4 million. Her husband works in the financial industry in Shanghai, and has an annual income of about 5 million yuan.

"We have three children at present, and my eldest son is seven. Therefore, we have bought the house so that my son can go to a good primary school in that neighborhood," said Huang.

The Millionaire Happiness Index, which featured in the report for the first time this year, showed that 73 percent of respondents said that they are happier than the previous generation. The average happiness index is at 7.8 out of 10.

"For the Chinese millionaire class, the key words this year are 'health' and 'happiness'," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.

What millionaires want the most is good health. One quarter are dissatisfied with their health condition, and more than one-third feel that they don't exercise enough.

"Chinese consumers have changed a lot in terms of their demand for products and their ideas for health. They have changed their focus from comprehensive nutrition supplements to customized health products," said Cai Baoguang, general manager for Pfizer Inc's health drugs unit in China and Hong Kong.