ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the overall class structure in the post-privatization period in the two regions. In general, a polarized class structure emerged in Sunan, in which a few managerial capitalists were situated on the top while the majority of the people were on the bottom. By contrast, Wenzhou witnessed the formation of a relatively flat class structure with a high percentage of private entrepreneurs (the new rich) in the total population. The shape of the class structure was diamond-like, to use Lipset’s term. The concrete mechanisms that led to different class structures in the two regions will also be discussed.