Children of wealthy Chinese taught how to behave

Launched by a 17-year-old boy from the UK, Rich Kids of Snapchat is a Facebook page offering a glimpse into the luxurious lifestyles of a group of teens and 20-somethings..The pictures on the site are of sports cars, private jets, luxury goods and lavish homes, all with captions revealing the kids' nonchalant attitude to money. [Photo/IC]

More than 70 offspring of billionaires in East China's Fujian province have been educated at a training session to raise their awareness of social responsibility and patriotism, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

With an average age of 27, the so-called fuerdai, or second generation of the nouveau riche, were taught traditional Chinese culture, social responsibility and business knowledge.

According to You Xiaoming, session leader and a government official of Xiamen city in Fujian province, the event, starting in 2013, has been well received by entrepreneurs who worried about their grown-up children's extravagant lifestyles and poor sense of social responsibility.

"Many entrepreneurs wanted to send all their grown-up kids to the session, but we could only admit one from each enterprise," said You.

You said the session had strict discipline – those arriving late or leaving early were fined 1,000 yuan (around $160). "Although it is not a large sum for the wealthy, the rule aims to build a sense of responsibility."

The training came after Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a more positive image of the young rich.

At a working conference of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) last month Xi called for more efforts to "guide the younger generation of private enterprise owners to think where their money comes from and live a positive life".

The offspring of the nouveau riche are often labeled spoilt, arrogant and sell-willed, with many of them splashing money about without knowing how their parents earned the wealth, according to an article published by the UFWD, which manages relations between the Communist Party of China and non-Party elites.

The article said that more than 85 percent of China's non-state enterprises are family-owned. In the next five to 10 years, around 75 percent of the family-owned enterprises will see the current leader succeeded and problems with rich youth could affect the succession and even dampen the public confidence in the private economy.

The UFWD urged young rich to devote their money to expand production, invest in the real economy and do more public welfare and charity work.

But the training session for the young rich received little support from Chinese netizens.

A netizen called Yanyu Hanqing said on Sina Weibo: "The market economy has its own rules; the new enterprise will only rise if the old ones fall. It's not the government's role to worry about the succession of enterprises and it's not fair to give training only to rich youth, but not poor ones."