Several senior officials who fell due to corruption, including Zhou Yongkang and Liu Tienan, share something in common: Their sons were deeply involved in their corruption cases. Media have called this phenomenon "the economy of high ranking officials' children", which refers to the abnormal economic pattern in which the sons and daughters of high-ranking officials take advantage of their parents' power and influence to do business.

近日，周永康，刘铁男等数位因贪腐落马的高官都有一个共同特点：他们的儿子也深陷其腐败案件中。媒体将这种现象称之为“衙内经济”。衙内经济指政府官员子女利用其父母的权势和影响力进行经商活动的一种反常的经济形态。

相较普通的权钱交易(ordinary trade between money and power)，这种“亲缘腐败”(immediate family corruption)为祸更甚，其造成的影响和对市场秩序(market order)与法治规则(rule of law)的破坏力也更大。