Report: Most of China's young and rich are self-made

GlobalPost

It seems there's still a country out there where hard work and capitalist entrepreneurship can transform a person of little means into a multi-millionaire.

I'm referring to China, of course.

According to a new report from China, 80 percent of the communist nation's break-out super-rich set are self-made. The study examined 56 people under 40 who'd racked up at least $154 million. Only 12 had inherited a significant amount of cash from their families. 

In Chinese currency, that makes them billionaires -- and there are now an astounding 1,900 billionaires in China.

The secret to the uber-wealth in China? Go to college somewhere else.

Half of the 56 young billionaires have degrees from the U.S. or Europe and 60 percent studied business. The entertainment and IT sectors brought 15 of them to wealth while 14 are in real estate and 10 work in manufacturing. The rest work in a hodgepodge of other careers, such as playing center for the Houston Rockets.

Yet another celebrated breakthrough in the great ascent of China, right? Not exactly -- and even the state-run Xinhua news agency is admitting it.

The report has "released another wave of 'deride the rich'" against those who "seemingly got rich without contributing to the economy or society."

The agency quotes a 27-year-old accountant as saying developers who build lavish homes, and thus drive up housing prices, are "just like vampires wringing every drop of blood from our bodies."

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