Chinese middle classes: what profile, aspirations and political engagement?

Despite the fact that their emergence has been real and fast for about 30 years, their share in the national population and their political engagement tends to be overestimated.

What is nowadays the demographical, socio-economical and political weight of the Chinese middle classes? What are the distinctive features that distinguish them from those of other countries? Have they been affected by Xi Jinping's political orientation since 2013? This conference will present the conclusions of two studies carried out in 2014 and 2015 on this category of the population.

• Chair: Françoise Nicolas, Director, Center for Asian Studies, Ifri
• Speaker: Alice Ekman, Associate Research Fellow, Center for Asian Studies, Ifri
• Discussant: Boris Cambreleng, Chief, Economic desk, Agence France Presse (AFP), he was previously a correspondent of the AFP in Beijing

The event will be held in French language.