China's young tycoons

Older Chinese see today's children as lazy and greedy

By Duncan Hewitt in Shanghai

According to an official newspaper in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, some children as young as seven are now the proud owners of property worth $100,000.

The Guangzhou Daily quoted lawyers as saying that increasing numbers of wealthy parents saw this as a way of giving their children financial security.

One man told the paper he had bought a shop worth $120,000 in his son's name mainly for fun - he said he could also earn rent on the property which would help pay for his son's education.

Some parents also hope that such a move can help their children avoid paying China's proposed new inheritance tax when they died.

Legal risks

And the paper said some men, particularly those who had children outside marriage, put apartments in the child's name to prevent their partners from claiming the property if they split up.

Some parents hope to fund their children's education

But education specialists have warned that so much wealth at such an early age could make young children - already widely seen as spoilt in modern China - become both lazy and greedy. Lawyers have also warned of legal risks - the Guangzhou Daily cited the case of one man who bought an apartment jointly in his own name and that of his young son.

When he tried to sell it, city housing officials stopped him - they said he would have to wait until his son reached the age of 18 and became legally entitled to give permission to sell the property.

But the Chinese Government's decision to end the allocation of subsidised state housing and to encourage people to buy their own homes means many now clearly see an apartment as an important guarantee of a stable future.