there is NO middle class in China.
That's simply not so. Professionals, small business owners, ordinary government workers all live what we consider comfortable middle-class lives. They don't make a pile of money by our standards, but taxes are very low, they save, and they don't carry a bunch of debt. Almost every one owns a second or third apartment that they rent out. They dine out a lot, and well too.
They don't own land, except in very rare circumstances. Even farmers grow their crops on land they are allotted. Those who own actual houses, as opposed to apartments, don't own the lots they sit on either.
