China's middle class may be booming, but a majority of
respondents to a recent survey said they do not feel so
wealthy.
Only 12.7 percent of a poll conducted by China Youth
Daily and Sina.com said they think they are living a
middle-class life.
The poll, entitled "Who will become the middle class in 10
years?" found that about 83 percent of the 7,313 people interviewed
think a typical middle class Chinese needs to have a good and
steady income, a house and a car.
Nearly 70 percent think the middle class needs higher education
and good manners. About 60 percent think a decent profession is a
crucial feature that defines the middle class.
The survey follows a similar study released earlier this month
by HSBC, Fudan University and MasterCard Worldwide.
That survey, which interviewed 1,736 people in Beijing, Shanghai
and Guangzhou from February to May, researched spending patterns of
the country's increasingly affluent middle class.
It found that the number of middle-class consumers in the
country is expected to nearly triple to 100 million in the 10 years
from 2006.
A Chinese middle class is defined by the survey as someone whose
annual income ranges from $7,500 to $25,000 and who is between 20
to 49 years of age.
However, the latest survey found that only 2.2 percent of
respondents agree with that definition.
Still, nearly half of the respondents think it is very likely
they will join the middle class in 10 years.
More than 30 percent of those surveyed chose investment and
finance as the best paths to becoming middle class.
Nearly 20 percent think a good collection of social networks and
resources will make people richer and 15 percent believe in
diligence at work.
The speed at which people join the middle class varies between
professions.
The survey found Chinese think those in the science and
technology and IT industries are the quickest to get rich, followed
by those in the banking, finance and investment industries.
(China Daily December 26, 2007)