SHENZHEN - A series of photographs showing the gilded life of a 22-year-old heiress has gone viral in China.

Ms Zhang Jiale, 22, posted the photographs on her personal account on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, London Telegraph reported.

The pictures, which show her diamond-studded iPhone, Aston Martin, private jet, and a succession of lavish parties, have reignited a long-running debate about the behaviour of China's fu er dai, or "rich second generation".

The often spoilt children of the tycoons who emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, they are often held up as examples of China's moral decline.

Ms Zhang is the daughter of Mr Zhang Jun, an electronics, property and insurance magnate who heads Sinolife Insurance in Shenzhen.

The heiress, one of four children, posted on her Weibo that "money can buy you a house but not a family. It can buy you a watch but not time. It can buy you a bed but not sleep, a book but not knowledge, can buy you medical care but not health."

She is said to be in a relationship with a 19-year-old model named Vanessa Yang, according to Telegraph.