Income Disparity, Consumption Patterns, and Trends of International Consumption Center City Construction, Based on a Test of China’s Consumer Market

Abstract

In order to promote an upgrade of China’s emerging consumer market and build an international consumer center city, and after analyzing the heterogeneity of the household consumption patterns in 14 cities in the east, middle, and west of China according to the fifth income group, the QUAIDS model was used. This revealed that (1) China’s consumer cities still have a high tendency towards basic consumption, the proportion of development-oriented consumption is obviously low, and the consumption of enjoyment has not yet developed a large-scale market. (2) The characteristics of China’s “dual-consumption” market are obvious: the trend of the structure of household consumption upgrading in eastern cities was obvious, and structural factors have a significant impact on the upgrade of consumption; however, urban consumption in the middle and western regions is still in the stage of basic consumption, and the trend of structural upgrading is weak. (3) Significant differences in consumption were found among urban household groups in different regions: the income gap between the middle and western groups had a significant impact on the heterogeneity and imbalance in the consumption market; as a result, the heterogeneity of the upgraded structure of household consumption in the central and western regions was prominent. However, the income gap among the eastern cities had less influence on the imbalance in the consumption market, and the trend towards and upgrade in the consumption patterns showed good consistency.