The Princelings (), also translated as the Party's Crown Princes or second generation officials (), are the descendants of prominent and influential senior communist officials in the People's Republic of China. It is an informal, and often derogatory, categorization to signify those believed to be benefiting from nepotism and cronyism, by analogy with the crown prince (Chinese: taizi) in hereditary monarchies. Many of its members have held high-level political and business positions in the upper echelons of power.

In contemporary China, "Princelings" are the descendants of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders and have themselves risen to high-ranking positions within the CCP. If their parents belong to the first generation of CCP revolutionaries, they are also referred to as the "second Red Generation," "Red Heirs," or "the Red Nobility." Princelings also encompass the sons and daughters of later generations of top leaders, including figures like Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, and Hu Jintao. Princelings exerted their influence in the country either by occupying significant roles within the party-state apparatus, which includes the party, government, and military services, or by controlling substantial state-owned enterprises. Opportunities are available to princelings that are not available to common people. Using their powerful connections they have the opportunity to obtain profitable opportunities for themselves and for others. The more aggressive of the princelings have amassed fortunes of hundreds of millions of dollars. However, there is no discernible political cohesion within the group, and as such they should not be compared to other informal groupings such as the Shanghai clique or the Tuanpai ("Youth League clique"), which resemble intra-party factions with some degree of affinity on policy issues.

Under the People's Republic, the term initially came into use during the Cultural Revolution to describe Lin Biao's son Lin Liguo as well as his close friends and allies who had been promoted alongside him into elite positions of the People's Liberation Army Air Force who were envisioned as the future "Third Generation" leadership of the CCP. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution led to many Princelings to be sent to rural China. Princelings lived in similar villages, worked together, and received their educations together.</blockquote>

Some of these crown princes were able to hold senior positions at the vice-ministerial level or above while still in their thirties, for which other ordinary cadres would struggle for decades. For national party positions, princelings often were promoted earlier and into higher positions than their non princeling counterparts. At least twelve of the princelings were revealed to have used companies in the offshore tax haven of the British Virgin Islands to store wealth in an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The political influence of princelings have declined significantly under the leadership of Xi Jinping, who himself is considered one. The number of princelings in the CCP Central Committee peaked in the 18th Central Committee, where there were a total of 41 princelings out of a total of 376 members and alternate members. By the beginning of the 20th Central Committee, their numbers decreased to 10, with the number further declining to 9 with the expelling of Li Shangfu. Similarly, four out of the seven members of the 18th Politburo Standing Committee members were princelings. In the 20th Politburo Standing Committee, Xi is the only remaining princeling. According to Voice of America, Xi "effectively excluded the second generation of princelings of his generation from China's highest decision-making and provincial-ministerial leadership". The number of princelings in the leadership further declined with the investigation on Zhang Youxia in 2026, leaving Xi as the only princeling in the Politburo.

Examples

thumb|[[Li Xiaolin (politician)|Li Xiaolin]]

The following are some of the most famous crown princes:

  • Son of Ye Jianying: The leader or Godfather of the Princelings was Ye Xuanning, the second son of Ye Jianying. Ye Xuanning was low-profile but influential in political, military and business circles. Many people who ran into troubles looked for Ye and Ye was known for being able to resolve their problems.
  • Son of elder Xi Zhongxun: Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP, President of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
  • Son of Zeng Shan (former interior minister of CCP): Zeng Qinghong, former Politburo Standing Committee member, vice-president of China, and, by extension, his own son, Zeng Wei, who purchased a $32.4 million property in Sydney, Australia. Zeng's source of income is unknown.
  • Son of Huang Jing: Yu Zhengsheng, former Politburo Standing Committee member and the chairman of the CPPCC National Committee.
  • Son and daughter of former Premier Li Peng (as son of a martyr and protégé of Zhou Enlai, a member of Crown Prince Party, too): Li Xiaopeng, Minister of Transport, former governor of Shanxi, former chairman of Huaneng Power Group; Li Xiaolin, president of China Power International Development.
  • Sons of former General Secretary Jiang Zemin: Jiang Mianheng, former vice dean of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, director of several major SOEs such as SAIC; Jiang Miankang, a major general of the PLA
  • Son of Wang Zhen, Wang Jun chairman of CITIC; Wang Zhi, former chairman of Great Wall Group
  • Son of former President Liu Shaoqi: Liu Yuan, lieutenant general of the military police
  • Son of Marshal He Long, He Pengfei, Deputy Commander in Chief of the Chinese Navy, vice-admiral
  • Former son-in-law of General Liu Huaqing: Pan Yue, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration
  • Son of Marshal Chen Yi: Chen Haosu, former vice minister of the Ministry of Culture
  • Grandson of former leader Mao Zedong, Mao Xinyu, major general of the PLA.
  • Son of former Premier Wen Jiabao: Wen Yunsong (Winston Wen), chairman of China Satellite Communications Corporation

A list of 226 princelings has been published (see link below).

In late 2015 and early 2016 the term "Zhao family" from Lu Xun's novella The True Story of Ah Q, went viral in China after it was used in an anonymous article "Barbarians at the Gate, Zhao Family Inside" to allude to princelings involvement in a business dispute.

See also

  • Hua Jing Society
  • Li Gang incident
  • Zhao family
  • Mazhory, a similar Russian term
  • Fuerdai
  • Red Prince

References

  • 中共太子党名单及任职一览表 (2004版) (A list of names of "Crown Princes").
  • China's former 'first family' about the children of Deng Xiaoping
  • The Princelings, John Garnaut, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 October 2010]
  • "China's 'Princelings' Pose Issue for Party, Jeremy Page, The Wall Street Journal, 26 November 2011