Looking beyond the 'middle class' for other Chinas
There are high hopes for China’s middle class. Thanks to their rising disposable income, this group of Chinese is expected to unleash a consumer revolution in the domestic market. However, I argue that the ‘middle class’ as a concept provides at best a partial understanding of the Chinese consumer p...
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| Format: | text |
| Language: | English |
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Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
2022
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| Online Access: | https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3648 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4906/viewcontent/2022_10_AMI_middle_class.pdf |
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| Institution: | Singapore Management University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | There are high hopes for China’s middle class. Thanks to their rising disposable income, this group of Chinese is expected to unleash a consumer revolution in the domestic market. However, I argue that the ‘middle class’ as a concept provides at best a partial understanding of the Chinese consumer population; at worst, it can even provide a misleading perspective that brings us to erroneous conclusions about its profile and size. Instead, I propose the notion of ‘three Chinas’ as an alternative way to make sense of China’s consumers. ‘First China’ comprises residents in medium and large-sized cities, ‘Second China’ consists of those living in small cities and towns, and ‘Third China’ refers to those in rural areas. |
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