(Reuters) - Annual economic growth of more than 10 percent has created a new class of super-rich in China, where there were 345,000 millionaires by the end of last year.
Even the average urban Chinese has unprecedented spending power. Their dreams of cars, cash and credit cards extend well beyond the coveted goods of the 1980s -- watches, radios and bicycles -- and the TVs, washing machines and refrigerators of the 1990s.
Here are some of the ways they are spending.
TOURISM
Last year, 34 million Chinese traveled abroad, making them the largest group of outbound tourists, and the China National Tourism Administration estimates the figure will reach 37.4 million this year.
Many of those who are not going abroad are heading to the roof of the world. Almost 3.5 million Chinese are expected to visit Tibet in 2007, five times the number in 2002, and their ranks are expected to grow to 6 million in 2010.
AUTOMOBILES
China surpassed Japan in 2006 to become the world's No.2 auto market, with total sales of 7.2 million vehicles and output of 7.3 million.
Motor vehicle sales and production both rose by more than 20 percent in the first seven months of this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
British carmaker Bentley sells more Mulliner 728 limousines, the world's most expensive car at US$1.2 million each, in Beijing than in any other city in the world.
FOOD AND DRINK
The average Chinese diet is shifting toward more meat and dairy products, while overall daily consumption has risen from 2,000 kilocalories per person in the 1970s to about 3,000 kcal today, fast approaching developed country levels of 3,450 kcal per person.
Annual meat consumption rose to 50 kilograms in 2000 from 20 kg in 1985.
Premier Wen Jiabao has said his dream is to provide every Chinese, especially children, with half a liter of milk a day.
Chinese consumption of dairy products is nearly twice what it was five years ago, but urban Chinese per-capita consumption of 24.8 kilograms a year far outstrips 2 kilograms per person per year in rural areas.
GOLD Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
| Health | Nov 09 - 12, 2009 | Health |
| Autos | Nov 02 - 4, 2009 | Autos |
| Middle East Investment | Oct 26 - 28, 2009 | Country Summits |
| Washington | Oct 19 - 21, 2009 | Country Summits |
| Global Wealth Management | Oct 05 - 7, 2009 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
