South China Morning Post
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 14 October, 2018, 10:02pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 14 October, 2018, 10:02pm
[excerpt]
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2167731/desperate-chinese-middle-class-take-big-risks-move-money-and-themselvesChina’s middle class is something of a mythical entity, with wide-ranging estimates of its size and economic power. Optimists believe a large and growing middle class has the ability to lift China and even the world to a more prosperous level, while pessimists foresee an increasingly burdened group that could cause the economy to stagnate and even lead to political chaos. In this, the third of a four-part series, The South China Morning Post continues to examine the myth to reveal the economic and political implications of its evolution.
Chinese citizens Xin Piao, Raymond Zhang and Wendy Wang were strangers until August, when they joined a group on social media platform WeChat dedicated to “getting refunds on Australian housingâ€.
Like the rest of the group, which has more than 300 members, they were worried about the slowing Chinese economy and had tried to safeguard their wealth by buying properties in Australia.
