Upper class growing in China
Over half of almost 800 wealthy Chinese who have been surveyed hold the opinion that the growing financial disparity between the rich and the poor also leads to the appearance of an upper class in the country.
Best Life, a life style magazine, carried out the survey, interviewing 792 wealthy Chinese in 62 cities from 27 provinces with the help of local chambers of commerce. The interviewed people were private entrepreneurs possessing property of over 10 million Yuan, i.e. 1.4 million dollars. The magazine said in June, over four fifths of the interviewed also remarked that in the country the financial disparity between rich and poor was too large.
On June 17th, Li Wei, director of the social development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told China Daily, “In the last few years, the great disparity between rich and poor in China has become self-evident.” He said, “We have noticed this phenomenon in research time and again, so it is understandable that the rich also feel this way.”
The interviewed in the latest survey had different definitions for the upper class. Some of them believed the yuppie group were included, while others commented that the term of upper class means connection with the high society, expensive lifestyles, and even more social responsibility, according to the report of the magazine. The CASS reported in its 2009 Blue Book on Chinese Society, the growing income gap in China is thought of as one of the country’s most urgent social problems.
The country’s fast economic development is a reason for the swift growing of the number of the rich. At the end of 2007, there were 415,000 rich people in China, 20.3 percent more than in 2006, according to the third annual Asia Pacific Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.
The rich people in the report referred to those with assets of over $1 million, not including their own residence. According to the report, rich Chinese on average own $5 million.
Still, in Li’s view, China’s upper class does not merely refer to the rich. “I agree that China has such a group of elites,” he remarked, “As long as there is equal opportunity for everyone to become rich, it can stimulate social development.” Some entrepreneurs admit that a wealthy class exists.
“I think an upper class exists in China but I don’t belong to it.” Kevin Zhou, a 31-year-old private entrepreneur in a large general motor manufacturer in Chongqing, told China Daily yesterday.
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