There has appeared in Chinese society a new group of people that are termed as the knowledge wealthy class. Most of these people are aged between 25 and 39. They have received a good education and work in IT sector, finance, or the arts. They drive Audi instead of BMW, and put their money for investment instead of buying gold. Most of them like adventures and have little interest in golf.

Such is the way of life for the knowledge wealthy in China. Recently, the Sinomonitor International, a Beijing-based consulting firm, carried out a survey about them. The survey covered more than 10,000 young rich people in 12 cities across China. Compared with 2005, the proportion of the knowledge wealthy has increased by 2 percentage points to account for 45% of the rich people in China. In other words, 45% of the young rich people in China work in industrial sectors that are characterized by new knowledge, new economy and new technologies or in new service sector. A large number of the knowledge wealthy are concentrated in Beijing.

Deputy manager of the Sinomonitor International Liu Rong said the young rich have the following characteristics: they become rich at a very young age; most of them have a good financial background, either because they make good money or because they are born in a wealthy family; and many of them have received a good education and have a strong consumption power.

These people have become the main driving force of consumption. Every year, their family expenditure exceed 100,000 yuan, mostly in buying durable goods or fashion gadgets, dining out, traveling, or maintaining cars. They are willing to search for new information, as 80% of them read newspaper or surf the Internet everyday. In addition, these people advocate new lifestyle. 70% of them think that if they have enough money, they should enjoy life. So most of them travel out of town, go in for physical exercise or visit beauty parlours regularly.

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