Think Tank: China’s Middle Class to Grow to 600 Million by 2020
CHINA’S rapid urbanization will see its middle class grow to 600 million and support an economic growth between 7 percent and 8 percent annually by 2020, a government think tank chief predicted yesterday.
Speaking at a reform forum in Haikou, capital of China’s southern-most province of Hainan, Chi Fulin, executive president of the China Institute for Reform and Development, said: “As urbanization creates huge domestic demand potential, China still has ample room for transition and reform for the coming decade.”
According to the think tank, China’s urbanization rate reached 51.3 percent in 2011, meaning over half of Chinese were living in cities and towns last year.
The continued urbanization, together with the increase in middle-class consumers will spur investment demand by at least 40 trillion yuan (US$6.3t) over the next 10 years, Chi added.
– Shanghai Daily