Rich China. An Emerging Class of Wealthy Elites

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In China, optimism is unyielding. Soon-to-be billionaire Zhang Yue has developed a stunning prefab building model that slashes construction time, and he predicts his company will soon be "the biggest in the world." Beijing restaurateur Zhang Lan is similarly ambitious. She has built her Szechuan eatery chain, South Beauty, into a culinary empire employing 10,000 people, and she estimates that by 2020 she'll have 500 restaurants around the globe. And what of 34-year-old Yan Zhihui, co-owner of Jincheng electronics? With a net worth of a few million yuan, he considers himself to have entered "the lower end of China's middle class." This program puts a spotlight on the country's new paradigms of wealth and status, going inside the world of Chinese tycoons to examine the scope of their business plans and their dazzling luxury lifestyles. Yet the economic climate is changing and the good times may not last forever for China's high rollers. Can their momentum continue?