Princelings (taizidang in Mandarin) are not new to the Chinese political arena. Jiang Zemin and Li Peng were the offstring of prominent Chinese Communist Party officials, as are several members of the current leadership: Zhou Xiaochuan (central bank governor), Chen Yuan (China Development Bank governor), Bo Xilai (Chongqing party secretary) and Lou Jiwei (chairman of China Investment Corporation). Vice-president Xi Jinping is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a first-generation leader. These men are joined by the third generation of princelings with access to even greater wealth and opportunity. Though influential as a class, princelings are far from being a unified political force.
The princelings risk stirring popular resentment, particularly when the internet spreads evidence of the opulence of their lives. Take the case of Bo Guagua, the son of Bo Xilai, party secretary of Chongqing Province. The younger Bo studied at a posh British boarding school and Balliol College, Oxford University. In 2008, the Chinese internet lit up with photos of Bo vigorously enjoying the Oxford lifestyle, done up in fancy dress with British beauties on his arms. A China Daily profile noted, with no apparent irony, his affiliation with the Adam Smith Institute.
Then there is the two grand-daughters of General Ye Jianying, one of the Ten Great Marshals: Ye Mingzi, a fashion designer, and Ye Jingzi, an event planner brought the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters car rally to the streets of Shanghai in 2010.
Hu Haifeng and Wen Yunsong – sons of the current president and premier – are wealthy businessmen. Wen Yun- song co-founded New Horizon Capital, a private-equity fund. Hu
Haifeng has been an executive in a number of state holding companies. For a time he ran Nuctech, a producer of security scanning equipment, which was involved in a bribery scandal in Namibia in 2009.
Taken from here
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