The number of wealthy Chinese families hit 5.01 million as of Dec 31 in 2019, an increase of 1.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Hurun Wealth Report 2020 released on Feb 8.

Wealthy families refer to households owning assets of at least 6 million yuan ($929,400), the report said.

Moreover, the number of high–net-worth Chinese families with household assets of 10 million yuan increased 2 percent year-on-year to 2.02 million, and the number of ultra-high-net-worth Chinese families with household assets of 100 million yuan grew 2.4 percent year-on-year to 1.08 million.

Beijing is home to the largest number of wealthy families, with 715,000, followed by Shanghai and Hong Kong, with figures at 611,000 and 549,000, respectively.

Chinese high-end consumers deserve special attention due to their strong consumption power that is an important force to drive domestic demand, said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher.

Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, ranks 6th on the list with 127,000 wealthy families.