Xi Jinping’s vision of a modern financial system with “Chinese characteristics” increasingly means that hopes of Shanghai one day rivaling major financial centers like New York or London are drifting away.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergXi Unleashes a Crisis for Millions of China’s Best-Paid Workers
China created a professional class in record time. Now, just as swiftly, many of their dreams are being crushed.
It’s 1 a.m. and Thomas Wu is riding his bike on the empty streets of Shanghai. The 43-year-old insurance executive has had another meltdown.
Wu’s pay has been slashed by 20% in a nationwide push to lower salaries at state-owned finance companies. He frets about layoffs and wonders how he’ll find 600,000 yuan ($84,500) to keep his two children in international school — a hallmark of upper-middle-class life in China. His six-year-old is behind in math.
