Princelings

The term was coined in the early 20th century in the Republic of China, referring to the son of Yuan Shikai (a self-declared emperor) and his cronies. It was later used to describe the relatives of the top four nationalist families; Chiang Kai-shek's kin, Soong Mei-ling's kin, Chen Lifu's kin, and Kong Xiangxi's kin. After the 1950s, the term was used in Taiwan to describe Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek, and his friends. The latest generation of "crown princes" are in mainland China. The first generation of princelings in the PRC were the children of the initial revolutionaries. These children were initially raised in environments where their quality of life far eclipsed that of the ordinary Chinese citizen, often close to other princelings and senior party officials to develop a network of influence. 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==