In east China, a business training course has been growing in popularity. It lasts two years and costs about 700,000 yuan (US$102,549). But this is no ordinary school: in addition to management classes, students take courses on golf, fashion, horse riding and tea culture.

A training class for the rich youths in Shanghai. [File photo]

This is not the normal training school that anyone can apply to. It is targeted especially at the "rich second generation," or children with rich parents.

"Our aim is to help private businesses cultivate their inheritors and achieve sustainable development," said a training course organizer in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, where more than 80 percent of entrepreneurs hope their children will inherit their businesses.

To meet this need, many training schools have special courses for the rich youths in the coastal areas, where the private economy is more developed. The organizers said the courses could teach students how to organize their life effectively, while running a business was just a working skill.

In a training school in Wuxi, most students are taking the course at their parents' will.

Ding, a sophomore whose parents run a factory, said after seeing the hardships his parents had gone through, he was reluctant to inherit the business. "But I still joined the course," he said. "At any rate, I don't want to let them down."

Qian is only 23 years old, but she has already finished a three-year course in Canada. She is now a manager in her family's factory. "Young managers like me are not experienced, so I'm taking the course to expand my knowledge," she said.

The training courses for the rich second generation have sparked debate among the public. Some thought it was against the principle of fair education because it treats rich and ordinary children differently.

A consultant at a Beijing-based training school said there were many time-honored private businesses in the U.S. whose inheritors lived a low-profile life, and that's what the training courses should teach the rich youths in China.

But some education experts said the parents should change their old-fashioned mindsets and select the most competent people to run their business.