A great wealth transfer is happening in China

HAVE you and your relatives fought over ancestral homes and inheritance? I am raising an uncomfortable question, I know.

China’s billionaire families have certainly had their share of very public and very ugly spats – including “Wahaha princess” Kelly Zong’s recent battle with her half-siblings for control over US$2 billion of cash held offshore. But as Chinese society ages and the economy slows, the middle class is starting to argue over money as well, tearing apart long-held social norms such as family harmony and filial duty.

By 2023, China already had 217 million people aged 65 and over, or about 14 per cent of the population. Over the next two decades, siblings and distant relatives will be tussling over family assets.