1、中文 3440 字,2000单词，10800英文字符 外文题目： Demographics and Consumption Patterns in Urban China
2、出 处： Population Research and Policy Review,2010,no.29 作 者： Farhat Yusuf &nbs
3、p; Gordon Brook Demographics and Consumption Patterns in Urban China Farhat Yusuf Gordon Brook Abstract： This study examines differences among urban Chinese
4、 consumers and their consumption patterns in three major citiesBeijing, Shanghai and Tianjinutilising data from a nationally representative sample survey conducted in 2005. Differences were found in these consumers age distribution, education level, household composition, birth and death rates, inco
5、me, expenditure patterns and consumer durable ownership rates. Beijing and Shanghai, the two most affluent cities in China, exhibited the highest consumer durable ownership rates and the highest cost of living. While previous research has frequently segmented China in terms of a rural versus urban d
6、ichotomy or by geographic region, this study suggests that the urban Chinese do not constitute a homogeneous market. Further, it is suggested that both geographic region and income, which varies between rural and urban settings, are sound bases for segmenting this important market. Introducti
7、on The increasing prominence of China on the world stage is evident in many areas. In October 2003 they became only the third country to achieve manned space flight. August 2008 saw Beijing host the summer Olympic Games. Economically, China is one of the largest and fastest growing consumer markets
8、in the world. For example, its domestic market for consumer electronics (video, audio and game console products) and personal computers is expected to be worth US$50 billion in 2011, having grown by 20% in the 3 years since 2008 (Datamonitor 2007a, b). With regard to structure, the Chinese eco
9、nomy is rapidly becoming a market economy. In contrast to earlier communist periods, however, there is currently increasing inequality with regard to income distribution in China (see e.g.: Fang et al. 2002； Khan and Riskin 2001； Meng et al. 2005). In 2003, the per capita income averaged RMB2,622 fo
10、r people living in rural areas and RMB8,472 for those living in urban areas (China 2005). Given their greater financial power, it is understandab le that many researchers have consequently focused on the urban Chinese consumer. Such research has tended to consider urban China as a homogeneous market
11、 segment, contrasting it with rural China (see e.g.: Cui and Liu 2000； Sun and Wu 2004； McEwan et al. 2006). Other researchers have examined the overall utility of urban versus rural segmentation (Yusuf et al. 2008) or particular products in the urban China market segment (Dickson et al. 2004)
12、. Pursuing a different paradigm, Swanson (1989) and Cui and Liu (2000) examined geographic segmentation of China, not differentiating between urban and rural consumers in each geographic segment, to investigate regional differences. While these authors have examined the differences between reg
13、ions, and the differences between urban and rural consumers, no research was found directly examining differences between the urban Chinese consumers of different regions. This study is an attempt to fill this gap. To address this research question, two objectives were formulated. First, to identify
14、 the consumption patterns of households in urban China as a whole, and three of its most important urban areasthe cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. Shanghai is Chinas commercial and financial hub, its largest city and the locale with the highest GDP per capita. Beijing, being the capita
15、l, is the center of administration, culture and economic management. Tianjin is a typical city on the East coast of China, and historically it was one of the first cities opened to the West. It is located about 100 km south east of Beijing and about 1,000 km roughly north of Shanghai. The second obj
16、ective of this paper is to consider the importance of geographic region as a basis for differentiating urban Chinese consumers through an examination of data for these three cities. Consumption Patterns Table 1 compares the per capita expenditure in each of the three cities with that in urban China.
17、 It is evident from the table that the overall cost of living in the three cities was much higher than the national average； it was most expensive to live in Shanghai, followed by Beijing, and Tianjin was least expensivethough it was still 21% costlier than urban China as a whole. Of the 14 it
18、ems listed in Table 4, there were 11 items in Shanghai, 10 in Beijing and only 2 in Tianjin where the expenditure exceeded the national average by 60% or more. In Beijing tobacco was the only item on which expenditure was less than the national average, while in Tianjin expenditure on clothing was m
19、uch lower but that on tobacco and communications was similar to the national figure. Given that the cost of living in the three cities was significantly higher than the national average for urban China, Table 5 compares the proportionate distribution of the total expenditure into various item
20、categories. Data for the total urban households in China are given for comparison purposes. Table1 Relative per capita expenditure on broad item categories in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin regions compared to urban China, 2005. It appears that apart from those living in Beijing who spent relat
21、ively less on food, the other two cities were very close to the national average for urban China. A larger proportion of the food budget was spent on dining out in Shanghai but even in Beijing and Tianjin this proportion was higher than the urban national average. Expenditure on liquor and bev
22、erages in these two cities was higher than in Shanghai, but their expenditure on tobacco was lower. On the other hand, while the proportion of expenditure on clothing was lower in each of the three cities, the proportion spent on household facilities and services was about the same, compared to the
23、national average for urban China. Relatively larger proportions of the household budget were spent on medicines and medical services in Beijing and Tianjin, but less was spent in Shanghai. Expenditure on transport and communications, as a proportion of the total expenditure, was highest in Bei
24、jing, followed by Shanghai, but in Tianjin it was even lower than the national average. A similar situation was noted in the case of the combined expenditure on education, cultural and recreational activities in the three cities. Although households in Tianjin spent the highest proportion of their b
25、udget on housing and those in Beijing the lowest, in absolute RMB terms this was not the case. The average expenditure on housing in the three cities was RMB 667, 456 and 562 for Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin, respectively, compared to RMB249 for the whole of China. Expenditure on utilities was lowe
26、st in Beijing and highest in Tianjin. Apart from the possibility that there may be some extra subsidisation in utility bills in Beijing there seems to be no apparent reason for this differential. It may be noted that the two cities are only 100 km apart and thus climatic differences are unlikely to explain the observed differential. Table2 Proportion of households total per capita expenditure on broad item categories in urban China,Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin regions, 2005.
