The Rise of the Middle Class in the People's Republic of China

Zhang Yuan (), Guanghua Wan and Niny Khor ()
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Zhang Yuan: Fudan University
Niny Khor: Asian Development Bank

No 247, ADB Economics Working Paper Series from Asian Development Bank

Abstract: Using $2–$20 (purchasing power parity) per capita daily income as the definition of middle class, majority of households in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have become middle class by 2007, which is especially impressive given that around 40% of households were still considered poor in 1991. The rise of the middle class is evident for both urban and rural areas and across East, Central, and West PRC. The drivers of this trend include market development, industrialization, and privatization. As industrialization and urbanization continue in the PRC, the growth of the middle class will intensify, and could hold the key to altering the PRC's growth pattern from investment- and export-led to consumption-led.

Keywords: consumption-led growth; industrialization; middle class; privatization; urbanization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 O14 P25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2011-02-01
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