China: Cost of Living
2010-04-30
by www.goinglobal.com
Quality of life standards for the entire population in China have been a relatively recent and hard-won phenomenon. The most concrete evidence of improved standards is the dramatic increase in the average national life expectancy, rising from around 32 years in 1949 to nearly 73 years today.
The standard of living in China has increased dramatically since China began to implement free-market economic reforms in the late 1970s. Today, Chinese purchasing power is in the top half of all countries, and only 10 percent of China’s population lives below its poverty line, which is less than many industrialized countries.
A recent 143-city cost of living study conducted by Mercer Human Resources noted the relative strength of the Chinese RMB accounted for increases in the cost of living in China. According to the study, Beijing is the most expensive city in China and ranks ninth in the world. Shanghai was the second most expensive city in China and ranks 12th in the world. Shenzhen and Guangzhou follow in 22nd and 23rd places. There are reports of apartments in Beijing renting for as much as 10,000 USD per month. But cities in western China are much cheaper to live in than those in eastern China. So while the cost of living in China can be expensive for expatriates, the overall cost of living in China remains lower than in the West.
One reason expatriates can live cheaply in China is employment contracts often include free or subsidized housing and social facilities. Free health care is also provided by employers. In addition, food costs are low in China, although imported products are quite expensive. Domestic help is inexpensive, with live-in housekeepers or cooks available for a few hundred yuan per month. Locally-made clothing, shoes and electrical goods are also cheap.
A recent HSBC Expat Explorer Survey reported expats in China found their accommodations much cheaper there than they did living in their countries of origin (49 percent allocating much less of their income toward accommodation, compared with 26 percent among expats globally).
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