A new breed of enthusiastic Chinese consumers helped to pull many U. S. companies through the global recession.
While older Chinese still save almost 50 percent of their incomes, younger generations are “shopaholics” and save next to zero. Salaries for young Chinese aged between 20 and 30 almost tripled in less than a decade. The number of credit cards exploded in China, from 13 million in 2005 to more than 115 million in 2009.
A typical young middle class Chinese drives a Buick, talks on an iPhone, eats in MacDonald’s, and wears Nikes.
When the Communists took over China in 1949, some of the most highly sought luxuries were a sewing machine, a wristwatch and a bicycle.
Now, 60 years later, urban Chinese people have a very different wish list, which includes big ticket items – cars, houses and traveling for vacation. Alison Klayman reports from Beijing, September 29, 2009.
An interview with Stephen Roach by Clay Chandler, the McKinsey publishing group’s Asia editor in Hong Kong.
In China’s rush to join the global economy, the country stoked exports and government-led investment but neglected to build social and economic institutions needed to encourage consumers at home. Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley Asia’s chairman, says its time for the world’s fastest-growing economy to find a “back-up plan.”
