Heirs of Communist China's Eight Immortals 'have amassed huge wealth'
Descendants of some of Communist China's most revered revolutionary founders have amassed huge fortunes and become a "capitalist nobility", according to a new report.
In June it was revealed how relatives of Mr Xi had built a vast financial empire, including property worth at least $55.6 million Photo: REUTERS
By Tom Phillips, Shanghai 2:58PM GMT 27 Dec 2012
A detailed expose on the descendants of an elite group of revolutionary leaders claims several so-called "princelings" have accrued considerable wealth and power from their ties to China's top brass.
The Bloomberg report comes as China's new leadership – four of whom are princelings, including incoming president Xi Jinping – has vowed to reconnect with the masses amid rising discontent over the privileges of the country's well-connected elite.
In June it was revealed how relatives of Mr Xi had built a vast financial empire, including property worth at least $55.6 million and an investment portfolio of at least $376 million.
There was no suggestion of any wrongdoing on Mr Xi's part and no assets were traced back to him. But experts said the findings suggested a growing disconnect between China's people and its political elite.
The latest report delves into the financial affairs of 103 members of China's "red nobility" – the descendants of China's so-called 'Eight Immortals' and their spouses.
The 'Eight Immortals' were an elite group of Communist revolutionaries who helped found the People's Republic of China in 1949 and subsequently backed the country's economic opening-up following Chairman Mao's death in 1976. The group's last surviving member, Bo Yibo, died in 2007 aged 98.
Among those cited in Bloomberg's report is 71-year-old businessman Wang Jun who is the son of General Wang Zhen, one of the 'Eight Immortals'.
Bloomberg calls Mr Wang China's "godfather of golf" and describes his involvement in companies that sold arms to Iran, Burma and Pakistan, had a joint venture with Ferrari, built roads in Sudan and expat mansions in Beijing and bankrolled a Beijing football team.
According to Bloomberg, Jingjing, Mr Wang's daughter and General Wang's granddaughter, was educated in Australia and gives her home address as a $7 million apartment in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile her Swiss boarding school-educated daughter, Jixiang – the great-granddaughter of General Wang – has reportedly acquired a distinctly un-Communist taste for haute couture.
Bloomberg claimed the 21-year-old recently posted photographs of "gold-studded Valentino shoes and an Alexander McQueen bracelet" on a social media site.
The report credits the Eight Immortals and their successors with transforming China into the second biggest economy on earth and elevating 600 million people from poverty. But the group's descendants have also benefited greatly.
Twenty-six of the Eight Immortals' heirs had controlled or held senior positions at major state-controlled companies, the report said. Many of their grandchildren meanwhile had "parlayed family connections and overseas education into jobs in the private sector".
The report mentions the real estate dealings of Deng Rong and Deng Zhifan, the children of China's former president, Deng Xiaoping, and also cites Chen Yuan, the son of Chen Yun who ran the economy for Chairman Mao following the 1949 revolution.
Mr Chen is now the chairman of the China Development Bank, which reportedly has assets of over $1 trillion. His children have studied at Cornell University, Stanford, Duke University and Harvard and worked at Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
One of the Immortals' descendants told Bloomberg he was furious at how he believed his peers had abused their privileges. Song Kehuang, a 67-year-old businessman whose father, Song Renqiong, was a member of the elite group said: "My generation and the next generation made no contribution to China's revolution, independence and liberation.
Now, some people use their parents' positions to scoop up hundreds of millions of yuan. Of course the public is angry. Their anger is justified."
