China's household balance sheet: Accounting issues, wealth accumulation, and risk diagnosis

Cheng Li

China Economic Review, 2018, vol. 51, issue C, 97-112

Abstract: In this paper, we compile China's household balance sheet and apply this perspective to the analysis of household financial conditions. Specifically, we first address some technical issues on the balance sheet accounts, and detail the estimations of two important asset items, “dwellings” and “automobiles.” Next, through reading the sheets, we provide an international comparative analysis, and show: (1) China's households are still on their early stage of wealth accumulation, and this trend is associated with a changing structure in favour of financial assets. (2) Although being subject to relatively low insolvency and liquidity risks, the sector has experienced, generally contrary to major developed or emerging countries, a climbing leverage cycle since the global financial crisis. These findings imply that China's policymakers should, on the one hand, make further efforts to help households accumulate wealth with an improved structure in terms of liquidity and risk diversification, and on the other hand, need to pay high attention to the increasing household financial stress and the potential risk contagion.

Keywords: Balance sheet; Household sector; Wealth accumulation; Debt risks; Financial deepening (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E01 E21 O57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: China’s Household Balance Sheet: Accounting Issues, Wealth Accumulation, and Risk Diagnosis (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:51:y:2018:i:c:p:97-112

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2018.04.012

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