Wealthy Chinese children flaunt supercars in secret meet-ups in the US
They are young, wild, free -- and very, very rich.
These wealthy Chinese students go to school in the day and flaunt their social status during private meet-ups at night.
These lavish gatherings feature posh venues, designer handbags and blinged out shoes, ladies in stiletto heels and sexy skirts and, of course, supercars -- plenty of them. Maserati, Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghinis you name it -- they're all on display in neat rows.
Multimedia news website, Vocativ, published a three-minute clip last week that sheds light on this rarely talked about sub-culture.
“I have three Ferraris, this is my newest one,” an interviewee told producer and host Kristie Hang at a supercar meet-up in the San Diego valley in California.
When asked why he had chosen to buy his latest US$270,000 (S$350,000) car, he said, “I’m just studying in California and this car is named California… very romantic.”
Another female student who pulled up in a Maserati said in Mandarin that she went to a California state school, but would drive her Audi instead on school days.
Another male student, who was just 20 years old, also admitted he kept his Lamborghini on the down low, and would drive another car to school.
235,000 Chinese students studying in high schools and universities in the country, said the report.
For most of these wealthy children, it is their own parents who are funding their luxurious hobby.
But why the secretive meet-ups?
Hang said that the Chinese government is “touchy” about exposing how the children of the elite live.
Hence, these youngsters would secretly organise meet-ups using the popular Chinese app, WeChat.
According to a report by China Merchants Bank and U.S. consultants Bain & Co. published in April 2011, rich Chinese — those with assets of more than 10 million yuan — have about 3.6 trillion yuan (US$564 billion) invested overseas.
"Alongside increased emigration there has also been a massive outflow of private money from China despite its strict currency controls... the Chinese economy now looks like a massive funnel," Zhong Dajun, director of the non-governmental Dajun Center for Economic Observation & Studies in Beijing told the Associated Press.
Zhong said it is mostly corrupt government officials who transfer entire fortunes overseas because they have been illegally acquired and "they have fears and feel guilty."
The United States is the most popular destination for Chinese emigrants, with rich Chinese praising its education and healthcare systems. Last year, nearly 68,000 Chinese-born people became legal permanent residents of the U.S.
President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption since he assumed power last May has seen over 180,000 party officials being investigated.
