China’s Wealthy Heirs Demoralize Young
November 6, 2013 Leave a comment
China’s Wealthy Heirs Demoralize Young, Xinhua Commentary Says
The children of China’s newly rich commit “offenses against social order” and represent a widening wealth gap that can only be addressed through political change, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary. “Many offenses against social order by the second generation of China’s wealthy families in recent years have also demoralized the country’s social working spirit,” the commentary, which carried the bylines of three Xinhua writers, said today. “A widening wealth gap has appeared between cities and the countryside, different regions, jobs and groups of people.”The commentary, titled “Chinese leadership seeks maximal reform consensus,” was tied to a Nov. 9-12 meeting of the Communist Party at which the government may spell out economic reforms for the next decade. The commentary acknowledged that any reform is “entangled with intricate problems and conflicts” brought about by the country’s development.
China has no tax on inheritances while property taxes in some cities are at the pilot stage, helping fuel the country’s wealth gap.
The offspring of people who profited from China’s economic boom in the last 30 years have their own moniker — “fuerdai,” Mandarin for second-generation rich. Many drive the Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys that prowl Beijing’s wealthy eastern district of Chaoyang.
So-called mass incidents — strikes, riots and other demonstrations — are being fueled by land appropriations, pollution and labor disputes, the Xinhua commentary said.
“Without incorporating political restructuring into economic restructuring, social wealth can not be redistributed, and the new strength of social energy can not be invigorated,” it said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Forsythe in Hong Kong at mforsythe@bloomberg.net
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