For China’s Wealthy, All but Fruited Plain — An article on China’s Rich in The New York Times.
While the Communist Party publicly embraces capitalists these days, inviting them in a controversial decision last July to join the party, it is still trying to restrain the emergence of a wealthy class.
The party worries that the disparity between rich and poor is potentially dangerous in a country where, according to Lu Zhiqiang, a senior government official addressing the Asian Development Bank recently, 70 percent of citizens feel that the fast-growing gap threatens social stability. Bold displays of riches are rare.
Yet, try as the government might to keep capitalists from amassing huge amounts of capital, people like Mr. Li, whose money comes from printing and garment manufacturing joint ventures with a Japanese company, are beginning to blip onto the world’s wealth radar screens.
