Looking beyond the 'middle class' for other Chinas

• Main Author: ZHANG, Qian Forrest
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2022
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Sociology of Culture
• 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
• Institution: Singapore Management University

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.