{"id":9640,"date":"2015-03-11T11:37:11","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T09:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=9640"},"modified":"2015-03-03T19:13:38","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T11:13:38","slug":"chinas-npc-meets-with-the-super-rich-in-the-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/03\/11\/9640\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s NPC meets with the super-rich in the spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than a third of China\u2019s top 100 billionaires sit in the national \u2018parliament\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Hundorf, chinaworker.info<\/p>\n

China\u2019s ornamental \u2018parliament\u2019 the National People\u2019s Congress (NPC) opens its annual session on Thursday in Beijing. The meeting will be followed assiduously by global media for signals about future economic policy as the world\u2019s second largest economy slows down amid mounting debt problems and industrial overcapacity. Rather than real debates and deliberations, the NPC and its \u2018twin\u2019 chamber the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will merely rubber stamp decisions already thrashed out in the inner circles of the \u2018Communist\u2019 (CCP) dictatorship.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, as in previous years much attention will rightly focus on the participation of the country\u2019s financial elite at this year\u2019s gatherings.\u00a0The Shanghai-based Hurun Report which monitors the fortunes of China\u2019s elite\u00a0says\u00a0that this year a record 203\u00a0of the 1,271 wealthiest Chinese \u2013 one in seven \u2013 are delegates to the NPC or its sister body. This tally includes five of China\u2019s 10 richest billionaires. As the Japan Times points out their presence at the annual meetings\u00a0highlights, \u201cthe influence of the country\u2019s mega-rich\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"world-richest\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Makes US government \u201clook like paupers\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fantastically wealthy five are drinks tycoon Zong Qinghou who is ranked third in China\u2019s billionaire listings, fifth-placed Pony Ma of Internet giant Tencent, and tenth-placed Lei Jun who heads mobile phone maker Xiaomi. The aforementioned are all NPC delegates. In the CPPCC sits solar energy tycoon Li Hejun, now ranked by Hurun as China\u2019s richest man, and sixth-placed Robin Li who owns internet company Baidu.<\/p>\n

If a similar phenomenon was to be replicated in the United States it would mean billionaires Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, the Walton siblings (of Wal-mart) and Michael Bloomberg all sitting in Congress. But in the older capitalist \u2018democracies\u2019 the capitalist class generally prefer to rule more discreetly, behind a fa\u00e7ade of well-bribed and \u2018lobbied\u2019 elected representatives of \u2018the people\u2019. China\u2019s congressmen, without the fear of losing elections, make their American counterparts \u201clook like paupers\u201d noted Bloomberg News in a 2012 report. At that time, the net worth of the 70 richest NPC-CPPCC delegates was estimated at 565.8 billion yuan (US$90 billion), which dwarfed the US$7.5 billion net worth of all 660 top officials in the three branches of the US government.<\/p>\n

Wealth more than doubled<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the eve of this year\u2019s twin meetings, the Jilin-based New Culture newspaper reports that 15 of China\u2019s 100 richest people are NPC delegates and 21 sit in the CPPCC. The combined\u00a0assets of\u00a0these 36 individuals are\u00a0around 1.2 trillion yuan (US$191 billion) \u2013 more than Vietnam\u2019s GDP. By comparing these figures we can see how the billionaire elite in China have benefited from the pro-capitalist policies of CCP ruler Xi Jinping \u2013 more than doubling their fortunes in just four years:<\/p>\n