Did China Get Billionaires Right?
In much of the world, the defining characteristic of billionaires is impunity: the ability to ignore laws, social norms, and borders through the sheer force of wealth. In China, however, every billionaire’s fortune is built upon a thin foundation: the goodwill of the CCP. At every turn, the ultra-rich, especially since Xi took power, are reminded that their wealth exists at the sufferance of the party - and that it could be taken away. Careful not to draw attention to themselves, or to seem to challenge the party’s right to “lead everything,” the position of billionaires in China is inherently precarious. James Palmer notes in this article for
Foreign Policy that one group of the ultra-wealthy seems untouchable: the family members of party leaders. Xi’s family assets are enormous and unreported by any Chinese media. When Bloomberg began reporting on it in 2012, the firm was threatened with expulsion from China and acquiesced to demands to self-censor.
https://foreignpolicy.com
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