[Editor's Note] China is the largest source of international students in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries, especially the rich, who do not hesitate to spend large sums of money in order to send their children to prestigious schools. According to Hurun Research Institute's "2014 Overseas Education Special Report", 80% of Chinese wealthy people plan to send their children to receive education abroad, which is the highest proportion in the world. Why are Chinese billionaires so keen on sending their children abroad?

On February 18, the website of the American "New Yorker" magazine published a long article "The Golden Generation" (The) by magazine editor Fan Jiayang (transliteration, FAN). She interviewed the rich second generation, China scholars and entrepreneurs in Canada. , analyzing the enthusiasm of Chinese wealthy people to immigrate and send their children abroad from historical and social perspectives. The paper version will be published in The New Yorker magazine on February 22, and The Paper has compiled part of the article.

Weymi Cho (left) and her friends who participated in the reality show

The West is the destination for many of China's new rich. Over the past few decades, they have swept through New York, London, Los Angeles and other cities, snapping up properties and stoking anxiety about inequality and global wealth. China's wealthy have become vehicles of the public imagination, much like the Russian billionaires in the 1990s and the wealthy in the Gulf states over the past few decades. There are especially many wealthy Chinese in Vancouver, which benefits from Vancouver's favorable geographical location on the Pacific coast, pleasant climate and relaxed pace of life. China's new rich regard Vancouver as a safe haven. They can not only settle their money here, but also gradually send their children here to receive education, work and life.

The children of wealthy people in China are called the "second generation rich." In a country where poverty and frugality were once commonplace, the second generation's extravagance has become notorious. Last year, the son of China's richest man posted several photos of his dog online, wearing a gold-plated Apple watch on each front paw.

Netizens complained on online forums that the rich second generation "show off things they have gained for nothing," saying "their absurd display is poison to the professional ethics of Chinese society." President Xi Jinping has pointed out that it is necessary to "guide people in the non-public economy, especially the younger generation, to think about their sources of wealth" and live an active life (Editor's note: Refers to President Xi Jinping's speech at the Central United Front Work Conference from May 18 to 20, 2015 ). Recently, the Chinese government held educational courses for the children of more than 70 wealthy businessmen to learn traditional Chinese values ​​and social responsibility.

The topic of the rich second generation has always attracted people. In recent years, some of China's most popular TV dramas – such as "Million Bride Love" and "Youth of Ice and Fire" – have plots centered on the second generation of rich people, whose love affairs enhance or endanger family fortunes. . Similarly, there is a rich second-generation reality show in Vancouver called "Ultra Rich Asian Girls of".

Vancouver rich second generation reality show "Princess I'm the Biggest"

The reality show is produced in Mandarin and English and broadcast online, attracting attention from Chinese people around the world. It follows the lives of six young girls who live in a state of dissatisfaction. These girls spend money like crazy to prove their identity but don't give a damn about other people showing off. Season 1 ends with a girl accused of horrific crimes – trying to carry fake Hermès bags and wearing shoddy clothing. The second season is shot in Los Angeles, where two girls are looking for a mansion to move into.

Hostility toward the nouveau riche is not unique to China, but its situation is unique. The accumulation of wealth in China has happened in recent decades. There are no old-style aristocrats to imitate, and the rich have no template for spending money.

Currently, the Chinese are transferring wealth out of China at a rate of $450 billion per year, mostly into real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors, Chinese buyers have become the largest source of foreign investment in the U.S. residential real estate market.

Rich people leave China for various reasons. Some people are worried about environmental pollution, while others want their children to get a better education. Zhou Xueguang, a professor of sociology at Stanford University who received his bachelor's degree in China, said, "The competition in China's education system is very cruel. Good schools only recruit so many students. At a certain level, no matter how rich you are, you can't get into it." Go." However, for wealthy Chinese, the most fundamental reason for immigrating is that their wealth is not stable. The deeper concerns are not only about the economic slowdown and stock market turmoil. It is difficult for business to grow and achieve a certain scale.

John Osburg (John) is an anthropologist who has studied successful businessmen in Chengdu for many years. He said, "They always have worries. If officials associated with them are brought down in the anti-corruption campaign, they themselves will not be able to escape from it. There is also a worry that business competitors will bring them down." Some people he knows I believe that being included in the Forbes China Rich List is a curse. “People who appear on the list for several years in a row become the subject of a criminal investigation a year or two later, or are pulled down in a corruption scandal,” he said.

John Augsburg's book on Chinese merchants

This is the first time that large-scale immigration of wealthy Chinese has occurred. Summers Kahn (Khan), a professor in the Department of Sociology at Columbia University who studies elite groups, said, “People now call China an emerging economy, but before 1810, China dominated the world economy for two thousand years. Before 1810, The Chinese elite are very conservative and look down on foreigners. In their view, the European elites are backward people trying to acquire Chinese culture." Westerners trekked to China, the "Middle Kingdom" that considers itself the center of the world, to obtain precious commodities—— porcelain, tea and silk.

It was not until the 19th century that the West clearly surpassed China, especially in the field of military technology. The Opium War, which broke out due to the imbalance of trade between China and Britain, resulted in China's disastrous defeat and ultimately led to the end of the Qing Dynasty. "China's first exposure to globalization led to its collapse, and the country has never fully recovered since then," Kahn said. "The emergence of China's new elite is the result of China's renewed encounter with the globalization process. Interestingly, It’s the elites who have changed in some ways.”

China's first wave of entrepreneurs accumulated a large amount of capital during the transition to a market economy, enough to raise their children in the new privileged atmosphere. The one-child policy made parents pay special attention to and look forward to their children. Furthermore, memories of poverty and backwardness persist in their collective consciousness.

Ray, a finance student at the University of British Columbia, once said to me, "The poorer the parents are when they are young, the more they want their children to have a better environment." The desire for their children to receive a Western education is not only because they want their children to become talented, but also For reputational reasons. Eco-Corp founder and CEO Paul Oei's observation suggests that his clients are not among the wealthiest or most privileged in China, and they want their children to have cultural and political capital that they themselves do not have. The heated discussion among Chinese people about the second generation of rich people reflects the nation's worries about the future of China's elites.

In the past six years, the price of a single-family home in Vancouver has increased by 75%, reaching an average of $1.9 million. Meanwhile, median household income has barely budged. The gap does not appear among locals. Last year, an angry 29-year-old woman tweeted a selfie with the hashtag "#无一million", prompting hundreds of Vancouver natives to follow suit.

David Eby, who represents Vancouver-Cape Gray on the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, told me he recently met with the area’s residents’ association. "All the talk is about Chinese money. They are very anxious and feel that Chinese buyers only buy houses but do not contribute to the community or integrate into the community."

Under pressure, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson ( ) proposed a mansion tax and a real estate speculation tax. He suggested increasing the vacancy tax on investment properties and called for "better tracking" of international investments and absentee owners. But it seems unlikely that these measures will be implemented. As home prices rise, ordinary Canadians are realizing that the value of their home is climbing. Several federal officials, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have also argued for caution so as not to depress housing prices – where wealthy international buyers mean higher taxes. "Canada is addicted to taxes," Iby said.