Saving habits change with the generation - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Chinese have been the most thrifty savers, because they felt they needed a financial buffer to compensate for poor social security, poor health care and high insecurity.That might change only with the generation, tells business analyst Shaun Rein in the Washington Post.

The Washington Post:

The high rate of savings contrasts with the increasingly visible consumerism in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, which are filled with Ferraris, shopping malls and luxury boutiques. 

Chinese older than 50 cling to more conservative spending habits than those in their 30s and 40s, said Shaun Rein, managing director of the Shanghai-based China Market Research Group and author of a new book called “The End of Cheap China.’’ 

But the exception to the savings-first rule appears to be the 20-something generation, veritable spendthrifts compared with older Chinese, with “an effective savings rate of zero,” Rein said. These Chinese were born after their country’s opening to the world in 1978, grew up with relative affluence and want the latest iPad and iPhone.

More in the Washington Post.

 Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Shaun Rein is the author of "The End of Cheap China: Economic and Cultural Trends that Will Disrupt the World ". More about Shaun Rein and his book in Storify.

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