The Distinctive Features of China's Middle Classes
This study seeks to lay the foundations for a better understanding of the Chinese middle classes. It goes beyond the traditional classification by revenue and identifies the distinctive features of China’s middle classes by taking into account relevant historical events, current sociopolitical and economic contexts, and key expectations of the population.
The features of Chinese middle classes are numerous and evolving rapidly in a context of economic transition, but the main characteristics can be summarized as follows:
- Chinese middle classes are still small in number and proportion.
- It is a “new” middle class, built during the last 20-30 years after the launch of Deng Xiaoping’s era of reform and opening up.
- In this context, members of the Chinese middle classes often seek to show their new class status through their living standards and consumption practices.
- At the same time, Chinese middle class households often share a strong feeling of instability, explaining their high rate of saving.
- Chinese middle classes maintain a relatively high degree of connection with the Communist Party and state institutions.
- Strong geographical as well as generation gaps exist within the middle class populations.
- The central government considers that an accelerated urbanization process will support the development of the middle class and ultimately help rebalance the current economic model towards domestic consumption.
Available in:
ISBN / ISSN
Share
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
The Distinctive Features of China's Middle Classes
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programs
Center for Asian Studies
Asia is a nerve center for multiple global economic, political and security challenges. The Center for Asian Studies provides documented expertise and a platform for discussion on Asian issues to accompany decision makers and explain and contextualize developments in the region for the sake of a larger public dialogue.
The Center's research is organized along two major axes: relations between Asia's major powers and the rest of the world; and internal economic and social dynamics of Asian countries. The Center's research focuses primarily on China, Japan, India, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, but also covers Southeast Asia, the Korean peninsula and the Pacific Islands.
The Centre for Asian Studies maintains close institutional links with counterpart research institutes in Europe and Asia, and its researchers regularly carry out fieldwork in the region.
The Center organizes closed-door roundtables, expert-level seminars and a number of public events, including an Annual Conference, that welcome experts from Asia, Europe and the United States. The work of Center’s researchers, as well as that of their partners, is regularly published in the Center’s electronic journal Asie.Visions.
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
Expanding SPDMM as a pivotal institution in the Pacific – A French perspective
The South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) is the only forum that brings together defense ministers from the wider South Pacific — including Chile, which is hosting it for the first time. This heterogeneous group of countries with varying resources, capacities, and interests — Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Tonga — are united by their shared determination to strengthen cooperation on maritime security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) activities.
EU’s Derisking From China: A Daunting Task
With economic security as a major concern, the EU has recently turned to “derisking” from China. The EU strategy entails reducing critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, including in EU supply chains, and diversifying where necessary, while recognizing the importance and need to maintain open channels of communication.
Sri Lanka’s NPP Government. From System Change to Structural Compliance
In September 2024, a relative outsider to Sri Lanka’s two-party-dominated political system, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, won the presidential elections. The anti-establishment, populist movement he represented, the National People’s Power (NPP), went on to receive an overwhelming mandate in the November 2024 general elections, winning 159 seats in a 225-member parliament.
Japan Under Trump: Alliance Strains, the Push for Autonomy and Essential Partnerships
Japan is under pressure from the United States (US) on punitive tariffs and demands for increased defence spending. This has sparked deep concern over US credibility and triggered growing domestic calls for greater autonomy.