Is it true that Chinese people now have a high standard of living?

中国人现在的生活水平真的很高吗？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

KokHin Lim

in real purchasing power yes they can afford more stuff and the are taxed much much less!

按实际购买力计算，确实很高，他们买得起的东西更多，他们的税负也少得多！

Aaron

I currently work in a small city in Anhui Province, mainly in the steel industry. By Chinese standards, it is a third-tier city. My monthly income should be lower than the local average. After get off work yesterday, I went shop at the newly opened supermarket near my company.

This supermarket is new and relatively small among the local large supermarkets. The 2L bottles of Coca-Cola and Sprite in the picture below are priced at 13.8 yuan/bottle.

我目前在安徽省的一个小城市从事钢铁行业的工作。按照中国的标准，这里是一个三线城市。我的月收入应该低于当地的平均收入水平。昨天下班后，我去公司附近新开的超市购物。

这家超市是新开的，在当地的大型商超中规模不算大。下图中2升瓶装的可口可乐和雪碧定价为13.8元/瓶。

Today is a working day and there are few people in the supermarket. There are some snacks such as bread and sandwiches on the shelves here.

今天是工作日，超市里顾客很少。这里的架子上有一些零食，比如面包和三明治。

This is the red wine section, and the red wines priced at over 100 yuan in Chinese supermarkets are of very good quality. However, red wine is consumed in completely different ways in China and abroad. Since the alcohol content of red wine is low, we usually put the entire bottle of red wine in a decanter for a period of time, then fill it with a goblet and drink it.

这是红酒区，中国超市里售价在100元以上的红酒品质就很好了。但在中国，红酒的消费方式和国外完全不同。由于红酒的酒精含量较低，我们通常会把整瓶红酒倒入醒酒器放置一段时间，然后装入高脚杯里喝掉。

The Chinese liquor on the shelves is a favorite among drinkers. There are roughly 12 aroma types in the distribution of Chinese liquor varieties. The brewing processes of various aroma types are different, and the taste differences are also obvious. The alcohol concentration is generally between 34-53ml/100ML. I personally prefer the strong-flavor type. The taste and taste of wine are different, and everyone's preferences may be different. Some Northwesters prefer hard liquor, which comes in a large capacity.

My suggestion is that if you travel to China, never drink with people from Inner Mongolia and other northwest regions, because they can easily make you drunk and unconscious.

货架上的中国白酒是酒鬼们的最爱。中国各类白酒大致有12种香型。各种香型的酿造工艺各不相同，口感差异也很明显。白酒的酒精浓度一般在34-53ml/100ML之间。我个人更喜欢浓香型白酒。酒的口感有很多，每个人的喜好可能也不一样。有些西北人喜欢大瓶装的烈性酒。

我的建议是，如果你去中国旅游，千万不要和内蒙古或其他西北地区的人一起喝酒，因为他们很容易就会把你灌醉，不省人事。

The fruit section, with its wide variety, is no different from other supermarkets. Domestic and locally produced fruits are relatively cheap, while tropical and imported fruits are slightly more expensive. But generally speaking, working-class people also have the ability to consume.

水果区品种繁多，与其他超市没有什么不同。国内和本地出产的水果相对便宜，热带水果和进口水果价格略贵。但总的来说，工薪阶层也有能力消费。

In the vegetable section, many people are buying vegetables, and Chinese vegetables are definitely one of the most important foods on the table. Nothing special, lots of variety and cheap prices. In China, products that need to be weighed are generally expressed in kilograms .

蔬菜区有很多人在买蔬菜，中式蔬菜绝对是餐桌上最重要的食物之一。没什么特别之处，品种很多，价格也便宜。在中国，需要称量的产品一般用公斤表示。

In the seafood area, imported lobsters and king crabs are expensive, while small seafood and freshwater products such as various fish, clams, scallops, oysters, shrimps, razor clams, freshwater crabs, etc. are cheap.

In the coffee section, my favorite is pure black coffee, without milk or sugar. My colleagues in Indonesia used to send me some really great cat poop coffee and I really miss the taste. Nescafe coffee tastes really average.

在海鲜方面，进口龙虾和帝王蟹的价格很贵，但小海鲜和淡水产品如各种鱼、蛤、扇贝、牡蛎、虾、蛏子、淡水蟹等价格就比较便宜。

在咖啡区，我最喜欢的是纯黑咖啡，不加牛奶和糖。我在印度尼西亚的同事曾经给我寄过一些非常棒的猫屎咖啡，我真的很怀念它的味道。雀巢咖啡的味道真的很一般。

In fact, the quality of life needs to be compared. The above is a small microcosm of our local lifestyle shop for your reference. When I have time, I will continue to update my life scenes such as food, housing, transportation, entertainment, etc.

事实上，生活水平的高低是需要对比的。以上就是我们当地生活和购物的一个缩影，供大家参考。等我有时间，我会继续更新吃、住、行、娱乐等的情况。

Qi Chen

Depends on the comparison.

In general, if the comparison is a nation with a similar GDP per capita as China, then the Chinese living standard will be way better.

This has to do with better public infrastructure, goods availability, etc.

取决于如何对比了。

总的来说，如果跟一个人均GDP与中国相似的国家作比较，那么中国人的生活水平会好得多。

这是因为中国拥有更好的公共基础设施、商品供应等。

Comparing to developed nations:

与发达国家相比：

Mid-class to mid-class comparison, China isn’t quite up to the US standard, but by 2024, that’s more due to city design.

Basically, US cities are more spread out due to their relatively newer age. As in, built after automobile are invented, so there is more space available and cars are more common.

This is expected to change once the Chinese finish their regional development a few decades down the road.

若是中产阶级与中产阶级比，中国不如美国，但截至2024年，两者的差距更多是因为城市设计。

总体而言，美国城市的分布更加分散，因为城市的年份都较短。都是在汽车发明之后建成的，所以这些城市有更多的可用空间，汽车也更普及。

如果中国在未来几十年完成区域发展，这种情况预计就会得到改变。

Lower to lower class comparison, Chinese is actually doing better than Americans. This mostly has to do with spending habits. Lower class Americans really don’t have much savings and mountain piles of debt.

Public safety also matters, here is a dark humor piece:

From 2024–01–01 to mid-February 2024, US already has 5000 people died from guns. That’s way more casualty than Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Gaza combined. So that’s why Americans consider Israel’s actions okay in Gaza.

若是下层阶级与下层阶级比，中国人的生活其实比美国人要好。这主要是跟消费习惯有关。下层美国人真的没有多少储蓄，债务沉重。

公共安全也是很重要的一点，我跟大家讲一个黑色幽默：

从2024年1月1日到2024年2月中旬，美国已经有5000人死于枪击事件。这比乌克兰、俄罗斯、以色列和加沙的伤亡人数加起来还要多。正因如此，美国人认为以色列在加沙的军事行动是可以接受的。

I just don’t get Americans on this part. The second amendment was quite clearly an attempt to save money on military expenditure by allowing a militia. It is not meant to put guns on a pedestal.

No, the “but if we disallow guns, only bad guys will have them” argument doesn’t work. The Chinese used to allow villages to own field artillery back in the cold war and all students were trained to throw grenades as PE class. (Duh, we were neighbors to USSR.) That’s way more ammunition and weapon than Americans were ever allowed.

我无法理解美国人在这方面的态度。第二修正案很明显是为了组建民兵队伍来节省军费开支的，并不是要普及枪支。

不，“如果我们禁止私人持有枪支，那么只有坏人拥有枪支”的论点是站不住脚的。在冷战时期，中国曾经允许村民拥有野战炮，所有学生都要在体育课上接受投掷手榴弹的训练。(废话，我们和苏联是邻居。)这可比美国允许持有的弹药和武器多得多。

And after cold war ended, the Chinese gun bans went into effect and within a couple of years, they managed to stop the whole thing.

As for high-class, by default, the Chinese high income classes don’t like the way things are going. This is because in most countries around the world, high income individuals can translate their money into political power and to put it bluntly, make them above the law (to an extent).

It doesn’t work in China.

但冷战结束后，中国就开始实施枪支禁令了，在几年内他们就完成了枪支收缴的任务。

至于上层阶层，中国的高收入阶层基本都对生活不太满意。因为在世界上大多数国家，高收入人群可以将他们的钱转化为政治权力，说白了，钱可以让他们(在某种程度上)凌驾于法律之上。

但这在中国是行不通的。

Derek Gould

It varies. People in Tier 1 cities are obviously better off than those in small and remote rural communities.

Extreme poverty has been eliminated and the general trend is upward mobility, with a middle class which now numbers 400 million or about 28% of the population.

有很多种情况。生活在一线城市的人显然会比生活在偏远小农村的人富裕。

中国已经消灭了极端贫困现象，总体趋势是向上流动，中产阶级现在有4亿人，约占人口的28%。

Per capita GDP may not be high when expressed in US$ or other western currency, but when adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity, it buys a lot.

In USA, the Federal poverty level for a single person is US$14,580/year, but in China that would put a family of three into the bottom of the middle class, while $70,000/year would put them at the top of the middle class with a very comfortable standard of living indeed.

如果用美元或其他西方货币来统计，中国的人均GDP可能并不高，但如果按照购买力平价进行调整，中国人的购买力就挺强的。

在美国，联邦贫困线是收入低于14580美元/年，但在中国，这个收入足以让一个三口之家进入中产阶级的底层，7万美元/年的收入可以让他们成为中产阶级的顶层，过上非常舒适的生活。

Annie Ruth Harrison (夏安)

Some of them certainly have a very high standard of living. Most all people in China have a higher standard of living than the generations preceding them, but not everyone is wealthy. China is still a develo country and that is okay. They can be proud of the accomplishments they’ve made and continue to work toward an even better future. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was China.

有些中国人的生活水平非常高。大多数中国人的生活水平都比他们的前几代人高，但不是每个人都是有钱人。中国仍然是一个发展中国家，这没关系。中国人可以为自己取得的成就感到自豪，并继续为更好的未来而努力。罗马不是一天建成的，中国也不是。

Dr.Josephine Noel.

Yes. I have been to Macau, Hong Kong ,Beiing, Shangai. They have the Europe ,UK,US there. In all respects except for food and housing. Thousands gamble at Genting highlands and Macau daily. Thousands travel abroad to all of East Asia. They are super rich in Malaysia. They dominate in Singapore and Malaysia.

Their trains, Railway stations ,Metro are mind boggling. They have Maglav train in Shangai. So many Bullet trains. Ships ? 24000 20 feet containers in one ship.

是的。我去过澳门、香港、北京、上海，除了食物和住房，这些城市在各个方面都可以媲美欧洲、英国和美国。每天都有数千人在云顶酒店和澳门赌博。成千上万的中国人前往东亚各国旅行。马来西亚的华人超级富裕。新加坡和马来西亚的华人也拥有举足轻重的地位。

中国的火车、火车站、地铁都令人印象深刻。上海有磁悬浮列车。中国的高铁四通八达。至于船舶？一艘船上就能装载24000个20尺集装箱。

Joseph Loh

Lachman said the economy in China is a little less than that of the U.S.However, there are four times as many people to divide it by. “So, if you look at their per capita income,” Lachman said. “It's only like $12,000. So, that's way below ours.” 23/07/2023 . This statistic shows a forecast of the distribution of urban households across income classes in China in 2022. In 2022, around 54 percent of the Chinese urban households would become upper middle class, while nine percent would be considered as wealthy. Approxmately 14.5 percent of adults in China had wealth of 100,000 to one million U.S. dollars.

2023年7月23日，拉赫曼说，中国的经济规模比美国略小。但是，中国的人口是美国的四倍。“所以，如果看人均收入，中国人的人均收入大概只有12000美元，远低于美国人。”这一统计数据显示了2022年中国城市家庭各收入阶层分布的预测。到2022年，大约54%的中国城市家庭将升入中上层阶级，而9%的家庭达到富裕阶层。大约14.5%的成年人拥有10万至100万美元的财富。

Gisa Jähnichen

That is true. Mainly in larger cities. The old picture of unsafe environment and insensitivity toward product quality is fairly untrue. But also in rural areas living styles changed. What still sticks, is the old kind of being cautious and stingy with oneself. That is seen as a virtue and hard to overcome.

是真的。主要集中在大城市。环境不安全、对产品质量要求不高，都是过去的事了。农村地区的生活方式也发生了变化。但仍然不变的是花钱小心，勤俭持家，这是一种难以克服的美德。

David Phillipson

Whilst China has certainly developed a lot over the last 40 years, there are still parts of the country with which the local populous is living in less than standard conditions.

China is a large country and getting to everyone equally takes time.

There are many charities and organisations within mainland China which work together with the local governments to help bring more money to those less fortunate.

虽然中国在过去的40年里确实得到了极大的发展，但有些地区的生活仍然低于标准。

中国是一个大国，要实现人人平等，需要一些时间。

中国大陆有许多慈善机构和组织与地方政府合作，帮助困难群众增加收入。