Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
February 13, 2019 Posted by China Briefing Written by Melissa Cyrill Reading Time: 5
minutes
In the 40 years since China opened its economy to the world, its population has experienced
dramatic changes in their living standards – not least due to the urbanization and
industrialization that followed.
Economic opportunities significantly deepened as China became a supply chain hub for most
of the world’s manufacturing processes. With that growth, the size of the country’s middle class
expanded in kind.
The World Bank has ranked China as an ‘upper middle income’ country; its gross domestic
product per capita income was US$8,827 in 2017.
Now, amid an economic slowdown and stuck in a trade war with the US, China is depending
on its middle class to stabilize domestic growth by spending more.
Here, we ask five common questions about China’s middle class to better understand their size
and economic power.
1
This includes raising the tax-free threshold from RMB 3,500 (US$516.70) to RMB 5,000
(US$738.14) a month and adding new deductions, such as for parental aged care, housing
mortgage costs, education costs, and healthcare costs, among others.
2
While this range is much lower than in developed countries, when adjusted for market prices,
it allows for a comparable middle class standard of life in China.
3
In addition, complicated household registration rules mean that those living in China’s
sprawling urban agglomerations often must support elderly parents and family members back
in their ancestral or rural homes.
About Us
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists
foreign investors into China and has done so since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin,
Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan,
Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at
china@dezshira.com.
We also maintain offices assisting foreign investors in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, The
Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, United States, and Italy, in addition to our practices in
India and Russia and our trade research facilities along the Belt & Road Initiative.