XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT: Wealthy Chinese Shift Focus from Making Money to Protecting It. “The new emphasis on protection is a shift for the upper classes, who have for years benefited from stellar economic growth and a relaxed official attitude to personal fortune. The country created a new billionaire every week in 2021, bringing the total to more than 750 — more than India, Russia and Germany combined and just behind an estimated 830 in the U.S., according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Now the mood has changed. Officials have offered assurances that the common prosperity drive isn’t about “robbing the rich”, but wealth managers say the push to narrow China’s gaping wealth gap has alarmed the country’s upper echelons. . . . One first step is to simply try to avoid unwanted attention, particularly on social media, wealth managers say. Over the past year, armies of online users have used social media posts, sometimes years-old, to attack celebrities, scientists or anyone else seen as disloyal to China. The mobs are often encouraged, if not explicitly deployed, by government agencies.”

Sounds familiar.