By Wang Shanshan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-15 07:12

There is growing dissatisfaction toward rich people, according to a new online poll.

The poll by the China Youth Daily in collaboration with Sina.com has highlighted the apparent discontent over the country's widening income gap.

Nearly 8,000 people filled in online questionnaires last week, and when asked to use three words to describe society's rich, the top responses were "extravagant", "greedy" and "corrupt".

About 57 percent of those polled said that "extravagant" was the best word to describe the rich, followed closely by "greedy".

Ironically, despite their dissatisfaction, 93 percent of those polled wished they could be rich too, and that richer people should be "socially responsible".

Some 33 percent of respondents also praised rich people for being "smart".

Nearly 90 percent of respondents agreed that most people in society, including themselves, were willing to speak up for the poor but were reluctant to take action and actually do something for them.

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The survey comes on the heels of a heated debate over comments made by renowned economist Mao Yushi, who said he was "speaking for the rich and working for the poor".

Chen Guangjin, sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said it was a pity that too many Chinese scholars "stand on the stance" of the rich when they come up with their theories.

"When ordinary people complain about the rich, they point at the illegal practices of accumulating wealth and also corruption," Chen said.

"There is still no clear evidence that the general public has bad feelings for the rich."

A report released by the Asian Development Bank last Wednesday revealed that China's Gini coefficient - an indicator of the wealth divide - rose from 0.407 in 1993 to 0.473 in 2004.

An earlier CASS report said that the richest 10 percent of Chinese families now own more than 40 percent of all private assets, while the poorest 10 percent share less than 2 percent of the total wealth.

The country's income disparity is close to that of Latin America, the report which came out in January, said.