Young Chinese believe powerful dads are key to doing well in life

To do well in the mainland nowadays, it pays to have a powerful dad.

This is the view of more than four-fifths of young people polled in a recent online survey. Indeed, many believe getting into elite schools, securing a good job or getting on the property ladder is less about being clever or working hard than whether their father has the clout to pull the right strings.

A shorthand phrase that encapsulates this attitude has become common currency in recent years. It is pin die, which translates to "compare daddies", or, more precisely, "compare the power of daddies".

One of the more sensational examples of pin die occurred in 2010 in a hit-and-run case involving a drink driver who hit two students, one of whom later died.

When stopped by security guards the driver, convinced his father's position as a police official made him immune, yelled: "Go ahead, sue me if you dare. My dad is Li Gang!" Pin die didn't work in that case. The driver was sentenced to six years in jail.

Pin die is often connected to two other terms: "the second wealth generation", those with rich fathers; and " the second official generation", those whose fathers are important government officials.