Millionaires bloom in mainland amid stock market boom

China created 1 million new millionaires last year as the country's booming stock market bolstered the ranks of the wealthy, according to a global wealth report released on Monday.

The US maintained the largest number of millionaires last year at about 6.9 million. China was in second place with 3.6 million, followed by Japan with 1.1 million, according to the Global Wealth 2015: Winning the Growth Game, released by The Boston Consulting Group.

For the first time, Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) passed Europe in wealth, totaling $47.3 trillion to $42.5 trillion, the report showed. It predicted that the Asia-Pacific region will probably become the richest region in the world next year with an estimated $57 trillion of private wealth, surpassing North America's projected $56 trillion.