Debt Shifting: Networks of Debt Transfer Among Chinese Elite Families During the Financial Crisis

• In Event: 50602 - Culture, Value(s), and Relationships in Economic Life

Abstract

Our study focuses on the debt-transferring strategies employed by elite families in the context of the financial crisis triggered by China’s real estate market. First, we analyze the strategies adopted by Chinese elite families in the face of massive debt, highlighting that “debt transferring” has gradually replaced “risk isolation” as the primary approach for managing debt among these families. Second, we examine the social networks formed through debt shifting, with a particular focus on the key vehicle—the “debt-bearing industry.” Finally, we argue that debt transferring through “debt-bearing” reveals a dynamic relationship of inequality. It exposes the flaws in the social credit system and the vulnerabilities of the elite class, while simultaneously perpetuating and even exacerbating financial inequality.

Authors

• Jingjia Xiao, University of California-San Diego

• qing Xiao