China's Consumer Revolution: The Emerging Patterns of Wealth and Expenditure

China's rapid economic growth has attracted much international attention in recent years, partly due to the potential purchasing power of the largest population in the world. This timely book examines general patterns of Chinese household demand for a variety of consumer goods such as food, durables, housing and health care and investigates the impact of economic and social factors on household consumption.

China's Consumer Revolution focuses on comparisons between different consumer groups, such as rural versus urban and rich versus poor. Special attention is given to the impact of the newly affluent consumers, the so-called 'new rich'. This book also compares China with other countries in terms of household demand for consumer goods and sheds light on the prospects for international trade in this area. Drawing upon newly released household surveys, this book is the first of its kind and it will be of interest to both academic researchers and business advisors.