“Present estimates of “middle class” in China range from 100 million to 247 million… Estimates of the size and growth rate of China’s middle class vary. Roughly half of China’s projected urban population will be middle class in 2025.
“Unlike the United States, where income typically peaks between the ages of 45 to 54, it is predicted that the wealthiest consumers in China will be between 25 to 44 years old because the younger generation will be more highly educated.” Source: Rise of China’s Middle Class
Buying Cars:
“In the first quarter of 2010, Chinese bought 4.61m units, up 71.78 percent year on year, according to the CAAM.” Source: The Truth About Cars
Buying Houses:
“…demand is still strong. A recent survey by the Hong Kong-based brokerage CLSA found that 56 percent of China’s middle-class families are considering buying a new home.” Source: Sinocism
“Furthermore, homebuyers in China put down at least 20 percent as a down payment (30 percent for a first-time buyer and 40 percent for a second-home buyer to damp down speculation). These buyers rarely fall behind on their mortgage payments.” Source: No Housing Bubble in China
Food:
“China’s mass grocery retail is booming and the turnover of both Chinese and foreign supermarket chains are growing. The middle class’ new consumption patterns and increasing income has been a catalyst for growth and creates new export opportunities for Danish food companies.” Source: Renmin Shimbun
Discover The Reasons Why China is Studying Singapore
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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Lloyd, great post except that you didn’t mention the widing regional disparity between coastal China and the interior/west. The CPC is developing the middle classes of the eastern/southern regions while totally ignoring the rest of the nation. This is only going to cause long-term damage to China’s economic progress
Great topic. Would you consider writing a guest post about it?