The BBC documentary Secrets of China is making waves in the UK for showing what it’s really like to live in China these days, but it’s also become controversial inside China after translations of the show circulated online.

One of the flashpoint surrounds an interview with 27 year-old Western-educated Wang Sicong, the owner of a large online gaming company in China. Wang was unusually frank in his replies to the BBC over the state of Chinese society. Wang admits that video games made by his company serve as a temporary escape from society, but that Chinese are stuck within this construct because “there is really no way of succeeding outside the system.” When asked about how Chinese adults become individuals, Wang answered:

The state chooses what’s mainstream, and you have to conform to that. If your ideals are not mainstream, then you’re wrong. But of course, everyone has their own ideas, so what they do is they put on a mask and they go forward in life with the mask. Why is online gaming becoming so popular in China? Because once you go online you can take off that mask and say whatever you really think instead of what is mainstream.

Then he was asked if the lack of freedom in China makes people unhappy:

I think at some point you just accept it. That’s why you don’t see many people protesting in China, I suppose… because they realize… some point in time, some point in (their social) class, that even by protesting they can’t change much. They could arrest you for that, so it’s… I mean, in China, where the line is really quite questionable. We don’t really know where the line is. The laws are not very explicit.

Chinese netizens got a taste of Wang’s brutal honesty through translated videos and screengrabs of the interview. But while Wang was discussing the core of what it means to be living in China today, it’s his status as the son of one of China’s most powerful men that has drawn the most attention.

Wang is the son of China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, the head of China’s largest property developer, the Dalian Wanda Group. Many netizens focused on his position as a fuerdai (富二代), meaning a “second-generation rich child” and a term that has a negative connotations in China, rather than the controversial remarks he made in the interview.

Here’s some of what netizens had to say:

断背山下的百合花：
European and US reporters are always criticizing from their high horse, talking about universal values.

离Dream的Dream：
He spoke truthfully without an extreme tone, and wasn’t lead on by the BBC reporter. And yet, people still think that he is this successful just because of his father’s money?

Ys_凹凸蔓：
Don’t just say he is just a basic fuerdai. This guy is an exceptional fuerdai, he has his own company with its own high salary. Some people are saying that he would be nothing without his father. Please! Without his dad, this guy would be the father to a fuerdai of his own. Terrifying…

本命年也要求好运：
Having money is not as good as having rights.

凤乙：
This reporter is not professional. Her questions are so subjective and biased. You can see she has already made her mind up about China, and that she is looking for answers that she wants to hear. And the questions she asks are so long, how can the interviewee remember what she asked in the first place? 

要成为跟卡咩一样好的人：
I really feel that Wang Sicong is a talented and capable fuerdai.

鹏鹏鹏蓬蓬蓬：
All those people saying that Wang Sicong is only successful because of his father being rich is just a case of sour grapes. I’ll give you RMB 500 million, and lets see if you can pass the national examination. Would you set up your own online gaming platform? Would you invest your money? He did, and what’s more he was a poor student that attended Oxford on a scholarship. Have you done it? If the father and mother aren’t able to do it, you won’t be able to do it either. All those people who have come here to voice their grievance at Wang Sicong, what are you going to do, beat the computer screen in front of you?

琼999999999：
I just wanted to say that the foreign reporter (spelled with the characters for “prostitute”) is a stupid cunt! It’s does not make a lick of difference to foreigners if we have freedom, or how we are doing! Always coming to China to interview Chinese, can you handle it?

曳火流明：
My cultivation is not high enough, apparently. I don’t think his answers are all that illuminating.

凯爷的王大源儿：
Even though it’s clear that (Wang) is a thoughtful man, I still have the feeling that his words are the result of a trap set by the BBC.

娱桑：
Quit kneeling and kissing ass. Why is it I get the feeling that this malicious reporter has set a trap for Wang Sicong, and that he’s fallen into it face first?

一枚小宝器：
This is why among entertainment circles, you can only trust Sicong. His stature and position are fixed, and so there’s no need for him to lie whatsoever.

–赵航–：
After watching, I have no idea what he’s talking about… 

懒_人_张：
Actually, Wang’s thinking is quite clever. 

Biubiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu：
This reminds me of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

愿为你L：
How ironic. However, what (Wang) said is a fact. If you don’t want to comply, there’s no way for you to not comply.

monodramabecky：
Just listen to (how good) his English is. 

耶路撒冷的呼召：
He is, in fact, saying the truth.

橙橙橙橙橙橙陈_：
I think that for some of these commenters, the only proper reply Wang Sicong could have answered with is: ‘Screw you! China is great! Ask me again, and I will beat you! Also, Chinese video games are the best, as are their physiques! Long live China!’ Only an answer like that would constitute a proper response.

共济会驻京办：
There was a scene from the movie The Shawshank Redemption in which the librarian of the prison discovered that he wasn’t able to leave the system of the prison when he was to be set free… and so he killed himself by hanging.

欧阳澄璧：
You can choose freedom, but the government is able to define what “freedom” means.

ACCCF：
This guy has enjoyed the prosperity of the system. And going by his words, I’d reckon that the Wang family is going to go the way of the Qing Dynasty and have their lineage terminated just two generations in. Hey, Wang Junior: I hope you had a blast when you were young so that you’ll have something to remember when you’re old and have no money.

lson_lson：
This is something that all rational and mature adults know. However, there aren’t many willing to say it in a public forum.

田中-谦介：
I have to applaud a fuerdai product made by the system that is speaking the truth to a foreign audience.

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Two years later, LV Bao has competition in the steamed bun market, and it’s from Louis Vuitton itself.

The French multinational luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, which also owns Dom Pérignon and Hennessy, has been seeing declining sales in the Chinese market as the interest in luxury goods continues to wane.

Some experts blame the continued corruption crackdown and austerity measures, others an economy that is starting to sputter. Some say Louis Vuitton is simply a victim of its own success, as Chinese consumers start to personalize their fashions with more varied choices instead of following the herd.

To branch out, LVMH’s private equity arm L Capital Asia purchased a 90 percent share in Singapore-based restaurant chain Crystal Jade for $100 million, basically turning the luxury goods-maker into a seller of xiaolongbao.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out well so far. The recent opening of a Crystal Jade restaurant in San Francisco, the first one out of 21 franchises to be located outside of Asia, was given a stinging one and a half star review. SFGate called LVMH’s luxury restaurant an “an amateur production”, and, in perhaps the cruelest criticism a Chinese restaurant can receive, was labeled as “Westernized”.

All the same, Louis Vuitton will always have its supporters. Owner Wang of the LV Bao steamed bun shop had said he hoped one day his buns will become “as famous as LV”. Perhaps LV would be willing to trade a bit of that fame for some of LV Bao’s business longevity.

Related:

• The RMB 1 Billion Mecca of Fake LV Bags Busted in Guangzhou
• Fake Hermes factory busted, ring leader given life in prison
• RMB 100 Million In Counterfeit Goods Seized in Tianjin

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Renxing is just the word to describe the story of a tuhao who rented out the Baotianman whitewater rafting complex in Nanzhao, Henan.

The man purchased all of the tickets to the facility, ensuring that only he and his girlfriend, who was celebrating her birthday, were able to use the park for the entire day. According to the park’s staff, the man had requested that they all line the banks of the river and salute them as they passed “in order to make the woman happy”.

Other visitors were angry at being barred entry to the park, said to normally cater to thousands of visitors a day. Some visitors criticized the buyout as being a “waste of water resources”.

Netizens differed in their opinions over the matter. One person said, “This isn’t your ordinary kind of renxing.” Another netizen wrote, “Although this is a profit-earning venture, isn’t this a waste of natural resources? How can you allow the rich to be as renxing as they want to be?” while another simply said, “Tuhao!”

Other people weren’t as quick to apply labels. One person said, “(In our) exaggerated and boastful society, what is the value of news like this?” Another suggested there was nothing wrong with the behavior, saying, “If a guy has money and can buy out an entire facility, and the owner of the rafting facility is about making profits, then who would say that this is a waste of resources?“

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Many of these 1.04 million super-rich made their fortune in information technology, biotechnology and alternative energy with about 80 percent under the age of 50.

Compiled by consulting firm Bain & Co and China Merchants Bank, one of the co-authors of the reports sees this development as a positive sign for the country.

“China’s HNWIs are driving the growth of the country’s real economy, particularly in key innovative sectors, which is helping to fuel the economy and advance innovation,” said Alfred Shang, a partner at Bain.

“Among the newly rich, we’re seeing a more aggressive investment style, openness toward alternative investments, and increased focus on wealth creation, second only to wealth preservation as their primary wealth management objectives,” he said.

Likewise, the 2015 Billionaire Report released yesterday by UBS and Pricewaterhouse Coopers said that Asia will overtake the United States in wealth creation over the next five to ten years.

In the first three months of this year, a new billionaire was created in China almost every week, the report said.

While the numbers of China’s super-rich has doubled since 2010, they have shown a decreasing confidence in investing back into the motherland, preferring to invest overseas instead. Nearly 40 percent of HNWIs and almost 60 percent of the ultrarich said they have overseas investments, an increase of 19 percent and 33 percent from 2011, respectively.

Less than 10 percent of HNWIs intend to increase investing in traditional manufacturing industries that have made China into an international economic powerhouse.

The increasing numbers of HNWIs is a departure from 2012 when the Hurun Rich List listed only 251 billionaires in China, a drop of 20 from the year before.

Meanwhile, China is still suffering from a widening wealth gap for which experts are demanding urgent action.

“Income inequality in today’s China is among the highest in the world, especially in comparison to countries with comparable or higher standards of living,” said University of Michigan sociologist Yu Xie.

“Ordinary people in China know about this increase, as they have personally experienced it in their own lives,” Xie said. “Although ordinary Chinese people seem to tolerate the high inequality, they also recognize it as a social problem that needs to be addressed.”

The Gini coefficient, in which zero is complete equality and one is maximum inequality, has risen to 0.55 in China, according to a study by the University of Michigan. The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics says its Gini coefficient is 0.48. Regardless, a rating of more than 0.4 represents a threat to social instability.

Zeng Xiangquan, director of the Labor and Human Affairs academy at People’s University, said China is falling into a “medium salary trap” that is stagnating the Chinese market due to a lack of innovation on one end, and cheap labor on the other.

The post China Now Has More Than 1 Million High Net Worth Individuals appeared first on The Nanfang.

The China Ultra High Net Wealth Report 2014-2015 《2014-2015中国超高净值人群需求调研报告》, commissioned by the Hurun Report in conjunction with China Minsheng Bank, surveyed all mainland provinces, targeting high net worth individuals with assets exceeding 500 million yuan (80 million dollars).

Report highlights:

• 17,000 ultra high net worth (HNW) individuals
• Average age 51 years old
• 45 percent tier 1 cities, 55 percent tier 2/3 cities
• Total assets 31 trillion yuan (4.96 trillion dollars)
• Average assets 1.82 billion yuan (291 million dollars)
• Their businesses are mainly in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhejiang
• Almost 60 percent have floated on the stock market
• About half are in manufacturing, property or TMT

The study notes that China’s super rich ‘think of danger in times of safety’, as their wealth increases they’re looking to diversify their wealth to reduce risk. Financial professionals are in demand to help the rich transfer assets abroad, emigration, and succession planning. These are fairly extreme methods to protect wealth, implying domestic financial and legal reform is still off the mark. Services most in demand are fundraising, investment, M&A, overseas investment, and investment in works of art.

Show me the money!

What’s striking is that fundraising should be the number one requirement for China’s super rich, implying a bottleneck in China’s still developing financial system. 65 percent surveyed cited business expansion as the main demand driver, with 27 percent needing funds for M&A, and 8 percent for normal business operation. The fact that banks make up 77 percent of their current fundraising sources implies China’s closed banking system is insufficient to meet the needs of China’s large private enterprises, so more room for growth in the financial services industry.

Another aspect of the report is the blurred asset holdings in China between the boss and the company itself. As China’s still in the early stages of economic development, many firms are still run by their founders. When starting a company, most owners must pledge their own assets (i.e. their house) as collateral to the bank, but in contrast the report shows over 60 percent of ultra HNW individuals invest under their company’s name, with only a quarter using their own name. Of those investing under their own name, a massive 80 percent are focussed on increasing their wealth, as opposed to conservatively maintaining their wealth. This falls to 40 percent for those investing under the company’s name. And 83 percent of the investments are performed by themselves or in-house teams, which means massive growth potential for third-party investment advisers in China.

The Great Escape

80 percent of the super rich surveyed said they have plans to invest abroad, with over half already executing overseas investments. Whilst the main driver for domestic investments are horizontal/vertical M&A, main reasons for overseas investments are expanding their business internationally and transferring assets abroad, 49 percent and 46 percent respectively. The main challenges that China’s ultra HNW investors face overseas are primarily risk assessment, and understanding local regulations. To navigate these hurdles, most information is obtained from banks or social circles. In other words, where are the foreign Mandarin speaking service providers to cater to their needs?

As the report signs off with, if one is able to meet their needs and do business with the Chinese super rich, then who knows, maybe tomorrow it’ll be your name on the rich list.

• * Affectionate term for China’s less well educated nouveaux riche
• ** Less affectionate internet slang meaning loser
• *** ‘Player Kill’ derived from online gaming, similar meaning to vs. in competition
• 土豪*“屌丝**”婚礼 PK*** Tuhao ‘loser’ wedding PK, china.caixin.com

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According to an anonymous baijiu industry insider, the Shandong government to looking to introduce new regulations when official banquets are held that would see baijiu replaced by wine.  The source goes on to say that this new policy is already in place in Weifang, an area in Shandong.

Despite being as yet unverified, the source says the new rule is coming: “We have somebody who has seen this Shandong government document that says wine – and not baijiu – is to be used for greeting guests. I personally haven’t seen it, but it’s real.”

China’s baijiu industry has fallen on hard times over the past two years. Austerity measures designed to fight against corruption have led to declining sales, sending the industry into a readjustment. On the other hand, the wine industry is enjoying a boom in China. Last year, China became the largest consumer of wine in the world by sheer numbers, surpassing France. In 2013, Chinese wine drinkers consumed 1.86 billion bottles of wine.

Baijiu remains entrenched in Chinese culture from its association to festivals and holidays, like Chinese New Year. However, as the baijiu industry itself admits, a purchase once a year is not enough to sustain the slumping industry.

The post Baijiu Under Attack in China as Governments Switch to Red and White Wine Instead appeared first on The Nanfang.

In the opening number, actor Tong Dawei was wearing Gieves & Hawkes, while his wife, actress Guan Yue, wore a rainbow-colored dress from Shiatzy Chen’s 2015 Spring/Summer collection.

Wife and Husband team, Guan Yue and Tong Dawei

Na Ying, who sang a song called Silk Road, was spotted wearing a pork-dot Givenchy pantsuit, accessorized with Tasaki jewellery and pumps by Gucci.

Na Ying’s Givenchy pant suit was straight from the fashion house’s 2015 collection.

Li Yuchun, winner of Super Girl, China’s answer to American Idol, was wearing a customized pantsuit also by Shiatzy Chen. Hong Kong singer Karen Mok wore the same designer brand. Actress Liu Tao, who paired with comedian Guo Dongling, was wearing bright red Dolce & Gabbana. Actor Lu Yi who appeared on popular reality TV Show Where Did My Dad Go? was wearing the same designer brand, as was his wife and daughter who sang a song together on the show.

Li Yuchun picked out this design out of over 20 design sketches.

Actor Zhu Yawen was wearing Gucci, and Hong Kong pop singer G.E.M. wore Emma Wallace.

The Lu family all opted for Dolce & Gabanna.

The show of glitz, glamor, and wealth was in stark contrast to orders from President Xi Jinping to rein in overt displays of wealth.

The post CCTV Spring Festival Gala Becomes Showcase for High Street Fashion appeared first on The Nanfang.

The red dragon fish was imported from Indonesia four years ago into Wuhan, and has grown from 20cm to its current length. The fish has a life expectancy of up to 100 years.

Thus far, no one is willing to bite.  Although there have been many interested buyers, according to animal experts, while the fish is rare, the price is simply too high.

The dragonfish, also known as Asian Arowana, is a freshwater fish largely raised to be kept in captivity. The owner of the shop said eating the red dragonfish does not have any medicinal effects; however, its red colour and cultural association with the Chinese phrase 年年有余, make it popular among wealthy businessman who believe the fish brings good fortune.

The post Have a Spare RMB 3 Million? You, Too, Could Own This Rare Asian Fish appeared first on The Nanfang.

Hulled barley liquors with gold and silver flakes on sale on Taobao.

China is in the midst of debating the merits of adding gold flakes to Chinese bottles of baijiu, the country’s popular rice wine, while some producers have done an end-run around the debate and have started adding silver flakes instead.

An online shop on China’s biggest e-commerce website Taobao has been selling well-packaged liquor with gold and silver flakes even though no decision has been made on whether the additives should be allowed. The online shop sells two kinds of baijiu with gold flakes and silver flakes for RMB 168. The additives are clearly stated on the bottle: “hulled barley, peas, gold flakes and silver flakes…” The shop says it has 795 cases in stock, and another shop selling similar products says it had 1,135 cases as of Friday.

Similar products from Japan and Germany were also available on Taobao and JD.com, another Chinese e-commerce website.

Liquor with gold flakes

Officials from the National Health and Family Planning Commission are still soliciting public opinions on whether gold should be allowed as a food additive to Chinese baijiu. If passed, 0.02 grams of 99.99 percent pure gold would be permitted in every one kilogram of liquor. The deadline for submitting public opinions is February 20, but the subject of silver as food additive was absent in the proposal. That has created a possible loophole although silver is less popular in China.

Health experts noted that adding gold has no notable health benefits, nor significant adverse impacts. That has left experts wondering why people would add gold in the first place. “We have received the notice for soliciting public opinion, but I don’t understand what’s point of adding gold to liquor?”“We have received the notice for soliciting public opinion, but I don’t understand what’s point of adding gold to liquor?” commented Ma Yong, executive vice president of the China National Food Industry Association and National Baijiu Committee.

A veteran baijiu drinker surnamed Zhao told the newspaper it seems to be all for show. “(It’s) glittery, adds to one’s face. But the taste is nothing different from regular baijiu.”

Online users speculated on why there is demand for gold in the wine. 五大欠 commented, “This is a good gift to be presented to the officials.”

Another user blatantly called out the decision-makers behind the proposal: “This is what well-fed big-bellied people do? If they had the time, why not supervise food quality? (Expletive), how much tax money do we have to pay to feed those brain-damaged people?”

The post Forget Wearing Gold, Now China’s Rich are Drinking It appeared first on The Nanfang.

A gold-plated sports car in Nanjing

Thirty years of continuous growth means there are a lot of rich Chinese people walking around — 14 million of them, to be exact. And according to a new report by Heng Seng Bank, many of them are parking their money in Hong Kong. 

The wealthy – defined as Chinese nationals with assets between RMB 600,000 and RMB 6 million – primarily come from Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai. As of August last year, the group had RMB 1.1 trillion worth of assets in Hong Kong.

Despite the Occupy Central protests and growing political tensions in the city, more than 60 percent of Guangdong residents say they are optimistic about Hong Kong’s future, and half of the respondents said they had already acquired some assets in Hong Kong.

Photos: ibtimes 

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