Young Chinese Spend Like Americans

Economist are becoming more and more concerned with the massive amounts of debt the young in China are bringing upon themselves. Chinese under the age of 30 aren’t savers like previous generations growing up in an unsettled economy. The freewheeling consumption, spent on gadgets, entertainment and travel, is helping China diversify its economy, yet it still has a downside. Household debt has rapidly risen because of borrowing for their purchases. Liu Biting, 25 years old, says she “spends all of her paycheck each month: 10,000 yuan ($1,400) a month… A third goes to rent, the rest on food, going out, music, and other products.” She also stated that times are different from when her parents were growing up. “For them to get a decent job, a stable job, is good enough – they save money, they buy houses, and raise kids. We see money as a thing to be spent”. 

As the US debt levels have fallen about 34% since 2008, China has passed the US in household debt and risen 74.5% since 2008. The average credit-card holder between ages 21-30 in 2016 was about $8,820. Wang Xinyu, 24, says he has about $11,200 in debt that is spread across 6 different credit cards. Most of this was from college as he saw it easy to swipe cards for his everyday living expenses. Today he puts his entire paycheck towards his debt, but still relies on credit cards to pay for his food, rent, and sometimes to pay toward other credit cards. The mindset for this younger generation and the question they are dealing with is - “If money isn’t spent on bringing you happiness, then what’s the point? Are we supposed to live to that we can save money?”. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-chinese-spend-like-americansand-take-on-worrisome-debt-11567093953