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What is the earnings threshold that separates the middle class from the working class in China?

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences launched a report in 2004, defining the Chinese middle class as families with assets valued between $18,100 - $36,200 (150,000 to 300,000 yuan), while China’s National Bureau of Statistics categorizes the Chinese middle class as households with an annual income ranging from $7,250 - $62,500 (60,000 to 500,000 yuan).

In addition to income measurements, some people believe that the so-called middle class should have college degrees, valuable property assets and should dress in a manner reflective of their social standing. Also, he/she should have a good knowledge of foreign languages and cultures, and experience with foreign countries.

But considering the vastly different levels of economic development and living standards, it is definitely difficult to come up an appropriate definition of the middle class in China.

For example, with a monthly salary of $1,000, you can live a decent life in the inland city of Xi’an, but not in the coastal city of Shanghai where you have to earn at least $5,000 per month to ensure a life that is free of economic pressure.

With such a breadth of data to consider, the difficulty of defining China’s middle class compounds further. So how many people make up China’s middle class?

Traditionally, anyone making from $6,000 to $15,000 a year is generally considered to be in the middle in China, and that amounts to about 350 million households, reported Global Post.

Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2010 released by the Asian Development Bank indicated that about 815 million people in China were in the middle as it used an absolute approach, defining the middle class as those with consumption expenditures of $2–$20 per person per day, a standard much lower than that used to define “middle class” in the western world.

Today, an angry middle class may pose serious challenges to Chinese society. Many people, especially white collar workers and entrepreneurs who are often associated with the middle class, are complaining about stagnant salaries, environmental pollution, social injustice, and most of all, inflation which erodes the value of their money.

“The middle class is an agent for social stability. China should allow more people into the middle class group by reforming its wealth distribution,” said Mr石漢明 on his Weibo account.

“Despite personal freedom and hard work, young people today have to work very hard to battle against rocketing housing prices. In such conditions, how can China foster a middle class?” user 左拉的黎明在哪里 said.

“China has the biggest number of super rich and 700 million peasants as well. The middle class is only a fraction of the society. Such a social structure poses a serious challenge,” 搬砖工王一博 said.

By Xu Xinlei