Economy

Love hurts when rich parents calculate cost

By Yu Ran (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-31 14:26

Youngsters feel the pain as partners vetted to protect interests. Yu Ran reports from Shanghai.

On the outside, Wang Yue looks like a man who has it all: he drives a smart BMW car, he wears sharp Armani suits and he carries designer Gucci bags.

Yet, there is one thing he cannot have - the woman he loves. The 26-year-old was forced by his wealthy Shanghai family to split from his girlfriend of four years "because we're not a good match", or in other words, because she came from a poor background.

Like in the West, rich Chinese parents have become increasingly involved in their children's love lives, mostly to protect their assets from what sociologists and lawyers say is a "growing culture of materialism".

With the demand for prenuptial agreements rising nationwide, and not just among the rich, many fuerdai - the Chinese term for children born to powerful families - are starting to feel the pressure.

"I don't think I'm lucky enough to meet someone my parents and I both like, so I'd rather stay single," said Wang, who manages a five-star hotel in the metropolis.

"I'm going to concentrate on my work instead. It's the best solution for all of us."

According to the fuerdai who talked to China Daily about their experiences, China's first generation of self-made millionaires are particularly concerned about their children dating people raised in the countryside.

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Wang, whose father owns several hotels and holiday resorts and whose mother is a real estate investor, said his parents were "visibly disgusted" when they met his ex, Xiao Mo.

"She is just an ordinary girl from a small town in Sichuan province," he said, his eyes lighting up as explained how they met while studying at Wuhan University in Hubei province. "We saw each other at a party of a mutual friend. It was love at first sight," he said, smiling.

His parents did not share his enthusiasm. "I never expected such an intense reaction," said Wang, recalling the time he took Xiao to meet his parents in the summer of 2007. "When they heard about her background, they were so disappointed. They warned me that the relationship would never work out."

In 2009, after years of fighting, Wang decided to break up with Xiao, who by then had moved back to Sichuan. The final straw had been when his parents threatened to sever financial ties with the couple if they married.

"My parents put too much pressure on us, just because I'm rich," he added.