Middle Class In China Research Articles

The political role of middle class in China: disentangling democratic attitudes and values

ABSTRACT China's middle class is found to differ in their democratic orientations – compared to the middle class in the non-state sector, a state sector middle class is believed to show lower support for democracy. Based on data from the Asian Barometer Survey 2019, we contend that democratic attitudes and democratic values are distinct dispositions. Despite displaying weaker attitudes towards the standard Western democratic institutions - such as multiparty elections and free media - the state sector middle class exhibits equally strong democratic values as the non-state sector middle class. On the other hand, compared to other social classes, while the non-state sector middle class shows stronger democratic values, it nonetheless holds a similar level of democratic attitudes. A most similar systems design and a joint method of agreement and difference reveal how values and attitudes are shaped respectively by early existential security and the structural constraints/stimuli one faces.

Inbound and Outbound Tourism in China: A Perspective Article

The tourism industry in China has undergone significant changes due to globalization, technology, and changing consumer preferences. This perspective article, based on a systematic literature review, examines examines trends, challenges, and opportunities in inbound and outbound tourism in China, focusing on the industry's dynamism. Both inbound and outbound tourism have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted new strategies and environmental adaptations. China has changed its priorities within the country to encourage domestic travel and support local firms. The rise in internationalisation and the growing middle class in China have led to an unprecedented rise in outbound travel. Chinese travellers are affecting travel habits and spending all around the world in the tourism sector. Language barriers, cultural differences, and safety concerns are some of the challenges that come with travelling abroad. To reach its full potential, China needs to adapt to the shifting global environment and take into account the specifications and preferences of both inbound and outgoing tourists.

History of the formation and development of the middle class in the PRC in Chinese historiography

In 1949 after the formation of the PRC started systemic changes, which could not but be reflected in social life. The social structure itself began to change, which had a significant impact on the whole society. Since the 1980s social mobility increased in Chinese society, and Chinese and foreign researchers started to pay more attention to the middle class as a new social group. In the Chinese academic world the concept of the middle class was accepted only in the 21st century, since the sociology within which the study of the middle class is carried out did not originate in China until the 1920s and then for a long time until the 1980s was under the strict control of the state. Active study of the issue of the emergence and development of the middle class in China began only in the 1980s, and Chinese scientists have made a significant contribution to it. Modern China is in the process of active social transformation, and the growing middle class has become an important social and political force. The historiography of the issue of the formation and development of the Chinese middle class, described in this article, will expand the understanding of the middle class in China, because it is the driving force behind the development of the country, and it is important to understand its political views, psychology and behavior, as well as analyze the trends in the transformation of the modern social system.

Understanding the Cultural and Societal Factors Influencing Brand Renaissance

This study examines how trade ties and the shift to a market economy affected the growth of the middle class in China and Russia between 1991 and 1998. It highlights the historical background of this time, which was marked by the fall of the Soviet Union and China's slow transition to an economy based on markets. The main goal is to comprehend how trade relations and market economies shaped the development of the middle class in these developing countries. A theoretical framework outlining the distinctive characteristics of transition economies and the societal shifts they entail is included in the research. It offers a thorough examination of the social and economic changes that Russia and China underwent throughout this period, focusing in particular on the differences in their reform strategies. A comparative analysis is also conducted on the emergence of the middle class, the importance of small firms, and the impact of trade links between these countries. In the end, this research clarifies the complex interplay between trade ties, economic reforms, and the growth of the middle class in China and Russia during this pivotal time, with implications for more general policy issues.

Heterogeneous driving effects of middle-class expansion on carbon emissions in various regions of China: A structural path decomposition analysis

Middle-class expansion has played a crucial role in driving the changes in embodied carbon emissions. However, its driving mechanisms still need to be clarified. In this paper, we compiled novel multiregional input-output tables to capture the rise of the middle class in China in terms of its expansion and consumption pattern changes. Structural path analysis was employed to investigate the critical paths of embodied carbon emissions from middle classes of different regions in China during 2012–2015. Structural path decomposition was further used to explore the driving factors along the paths, including changes in population size, consumption patterns, industrial structure, and carbon intensity. Our results show that, from 2012 to 2015, the role of the middle class in driving carbon emissions through the most critical paths was either enhanced or reduced depending on different factorial changes. Generally, the paths with enhanced roles of the middle class stemmed from the urban and rural middle classes in Central China, Southwestern Coastal, and Northern Coastal regions, and the changes in consumption patterns and population of the urban middle class were the main driving factors. The top 30 paths of carbon emissions growth driven by the urban and rural middle classes approximately increase 19.5 Mt and 8 Mt of carbon emissions, respectively. In contrast, most of the paths with the weakened role of the middle class were intraregional paths in the Southern Coastal and Eastern Coastal regions, and carbon intensity was the dominant factor governing the changes. Our analysis systematically revealed, for the first time, the heterogeneous impacts and driving factors of middle-class expansion in different regions of China on carbon emissions. Therefore, it provides new insights for climate mitigation in the context of China's plan to cultivate a majority middle-class society.

Does the Emerging Middle Class Support Democracy? A Comparative Analysis of China, Countries with Authoritarian Political Regimes, and Recent Post-Socialist Democracies

Does the emerging middle class support democracy? This study provides a comparative analysis of political attitudes, actions, and preferences of the middle class in China, other countries characterized by authoritarian political regimes/tendencies (Russia, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan), and post-socialist countries that have recently established democratic regimes (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova). Conceptually, the study draws on the insights from the modernization and critical junctures theories of economic growth and political development, as well as the neo-Weberian approach to social-economic development. The empirical analysis, based on data from the World Values Survey, shows a positive association between the middle class status and preference for democratic governance in China; this link tends to be stronger than in other countries with authoritarian tendencies, but weaker than in the post-socialist democracies, especially those that are members of the EU. Compared to other country groups, the middle class in China are most likely to support strong leaders and least likely to take part in demonstrations and strikes. Consistently with the neo-Weberian approach, the preferences towards democracy in different countries can be explained by country-wide cultural attitudes.

THE HYPOTHESES OF LIPSET AND FUKUYAMA AND THEIR VERIFICATION ON THE EXAMPLE OF MODERN CHINA

The article attempts to test the issue of the universality of the hypotheses of Francis Fukuyama and Seymour Martin Lipset about the positive correlation of wealth and consumer culture with liberalism and democracy on the example of some developing countries and modern China. The key component of the analysis is the middle class, which is traditionally considered an indicator of the economic state of society, the basis of consumer culture and the bearer of the economic liberalism values. The problem of a qualitative transition of the middle class from the confession of the economic liberalism values to the values of political liberalism and the requirements of their practical implementation in the form of democratization of society and the state is also analyzed. The article presents the results of the middle class survey in the most successful developing countries, conducted by Pew Research Center in 2009, which generally confirm the hypothesis of the existence of a global middle class from a value point of view, regardless of whether it is a developed or developing country. At the same time, more recent studies do not yet confirm the successful transition from economic liberalism to political liberalism in these developing countries. In this regard, the key conceptual issue that will have to confirm or refute the hypotheses of Lipset and Fukuyama is the further ways of the development of the middle class in China, which has already become the largest in the world in terms of numbers, has had a taste of consumption and economic liberalism. Considering that the Chinese middle class makes up more than 50 % of the population, it remains a mystery why it has not yet made demands for the political transformation of the state and what reasons are holding back the transition of the strengthening economic liberalism in Chinese society to political liberalism, and whether this transition is possible generally.

Analysis of the Viability of Tourism and Future Development Strategy in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Region

The purpose of the article is to evaluate the current situation of the tourism industry in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and discuss further developing strategies. The main research approach is through the SWOT method, and the main data resources are secondary data from relative articles and organizations. In general, through the SWOT analysis, the strength of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau regions in to develop tourism industry includes unique natural and socio-cultural environments, high-quality infrastructure, and government support; the weakness includes the lack of professional tourism operators and innovative and diverse tourism products; the opportunities including the increasing number of middle classes in China and possible involvement of the local community in the future; the threats mainly from the negative impacts from tourism to the unique natural and socio-cultural local environments. Future developing strategies are focused on 4 perspectives: being sustainable, having business viability, increasing the involvement of the local community, and building infrastructure in a more sustainable approach.

The Rise of China's Global Middle Class in an International Context

AbstractWe estimate the size of the global middle class in China and 33 other countries and analyze China's expanding middle class in an international context. The “global middle class” is defined in terms of being neither poor nor rich in the developed world. China's global middle class has grown rapidly and has been catching up with the middle class in developed countries. By 2018 China's global middle class constituted 25 percent of China's population; in absolute size it was nearly double the size of the global middle class in the US and was similar in size to that of Europe. Cross‐country analysis of the relationship between the middle‐class share of the total population and GDP per capita reveals an inverted‐U pattern. China is not an outlier from the cross‐country pattern but the speed with which its middle‐class has expanded is unusual. The only other countries with similarly large, rapid expansions of the middle class are transition economies.

The Hukou system as one of the institutional barriers for the emergence of the middle class in China

The household registration system (hukou) in China has been created and maintained for deep political, economic and social reasons. The system was introduced by the PRC government in the 1950s and became the main mechanism for regulating relations between people and allocating resources. System assumes that every resident of China will study, work, receive social services only in the region in which was born. It made possible to ensure social and political stability and economic growth in China. At the same time, the hukou system increased economic and social disparities between urban and rural areas. During the 1960s and the 1970s internal migration in China was practically absent because the hukousystem tied the citizens to their place of residence. It also “frozen” the social structure of Chinese society for a long time, as the residents of rural areas were provided with much less free services than those who lived in cities, including limited access to education and medical care, which in turn influenced the quality of life and the possibility of transition to a higher social class. In the 1980s due to the Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, China began to develop and enter the world market, a large number of special economic zones sprang up, which stimulated an increase in demand for labor in cities. The central government began to give relief in the hukou system, gave opportunities for labor migration. In modern China the hukou system plays the role of a “sieve”. It weeds out most of the population and passes through only a certain number of highly qualified personnel who will later become the new middle class of the country. This article attempts to look at the evolution and the main stages of the hukou system, exploring how the system has changed throughout the modern history of China.

Carbon spillover and feedback effects of the middle class in China

China's middle-class cultivation plan has been put on the agenda. The demographic transformation process is likely to be accompanied by environmental changes. Different income groups have their own characteristics, exerting different degrees of pressure on the environment. Based on a multiregional input-output model, we analyse the spillover-feedback mechanisms among eight regions with special emphasis on household consumption of the middle class in China. Our results show that the middle class, representing two-thirds of the total population, is responsible for 56% of the total carbon spillover, to which Central China and Southwest contributed the most. Central China and developed coastal areas imposed the most spillover while the Northwest bore the most spillover. To satisfy middle-class consumption, Central China is the largest carbon spillover flow net importer in domestic trade, while for the entire household, China's East Coast ranked first. Furthermore, interregional carbon spillover was mostly transferred through the electricity industry, petroleum, chemical and nonmetallic mineral products, metal products, and transport industries, supporting residents' demand for household appliances, living and transport services. Regarding the feedback effect, it is relatively minor. Therefore, we propose regional supply chain adjustment strategies and personal consumption behaviour recommendations in the context of middle-class cultivation in the eight regions of China.

Is Family Education the Main Factor that Influences the Formation of Children's Social Interaction? A Research on Family Education of Middle Class in China

In China, the middle-class families have an increasing demand for finding the right way to educate their children, because the evidence shows that the formation of children's correct social interaction behavior is closely related to family education. This paper investigates the relationship between education style and children's correct social interaction behavior through four dimensions: parents' educational philosophy, parents' intervention degree in children's activities, parents' communication style and children's social interaction performance. The results show that family education will lead to the formation of children's social interaction behavior no matter what kind it is, but democratic education can help make the formation of correct social interaction behavior and have a positive impact on the later stage of children. Because children's behavior is out of expectation, parents deepen the interference, which leads to the increase of uncertainty of family education. This feedback method promotes parents to reflect actively and injects new vitality into family education, which will promote children to form correct social interaction behavior.

The Rise of China's Global Middle Class in International Perspective

Defining the ‘global middle class’ as being neither poor nor rich in the developed world, we estimate the size of the global middle class in China and 33 other countries and analyze China’s expanding middle class in international perspective. China’s global middle class has grown rapidly and has been catching up with that in developed countries. By 2018 China’s global middle class constituted 25 percent of China’s population; in absolute size it was nearly double the size of the global middle class in the US and similar in size to that in Europe. Cross-country analysis of the relationship between the middle-class population share versus GDP per capita reveals an inverted-U pattern. China is not an outlier from the cross-country pattern, but the speed with which its middle-class has expanded is unusual. The only other countries with similarly large, rapid expansions of the middle class are transition economies.

Moving Beyond Lewis: Employment and Wage Trends in China\u2019s High- and Low-Skilled Industries and the Emergence of an Era of Polarization

One of the defining features of China’s economy over the two decades between 1995 and 2015 was the persistent rise of wages for workers and professionals in nearly every segment of the economy—with wage rates for labor-intensive jobs in manufacturing, construction, and the informal service sector rising the fastest. Recently, however, the economic environment in China has begun to change, including changes in both employment and wages. We identify recent employment/wage trends throughout China’s economy and postulate the sources of these trends as well as possible future consequences if they continue. We use official, nationally aggregated data to examine employment and wages in multiple sectors and industries. Our findings indicate that China may have entered a new phase of economic development in the mid-2010s. According to the data, in recent years, wage growth has begun to polarize: Rising for professionals employed in formal skill-intensive industries; and falling for workers in the informal labor-intensive service sector. We attribute this increase in skill-intensive wages to an increase in demand for skill-intensive employment, due to the emergence of a large middle class in China, for whom the demand for high technology, finance, banking, health, and higher education industries is increasing while, at least in the recent short term, the supply of experienced, high-skilled professionals has not kept up. The employment/wage trend in the informal (low-wage) service sector, however, is following a different pattern. While there is a rising demand for services in China’s economy, the growth, due to a number of factors (e.g., large shares of GDP targeted by policymakers to investment; high rates of savings by consumers), is relatively slow. In contrast, due to a number of economic forces, including globalization and automation, the supply of labor into the service sector of the informal economy is being fueled by the flow of labor out of manufacturing and construction (two industries that that have experienced employment declines since 2013). These supply and demand trends, in turn, are leading to the fall in the growth rate of wages in the informal service sector. We conclude by discussing the possible longer-term consequences of these emerging polarization trends based on an examination of recent experience with wage polarization occurring in both middle- and high-income countries, as well as its consequences. We also present policy recommendations for greater investment in education and human capital, as well as for the development of a more comprehensive set of social safety nets for different segments of China’s population.

Liberal or Conservative? The Differentiated Political Values of the Middle Class in Contemporary China

AbstractThis article analyses data from the 2015 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) to investigate the differentiated political values of the middle class in China. Combining the two factors of market situation and institutional division, the article first categorizes several basic types of middle class and then identifies two kinds of political values (liberal and conservative) from the indicators of support for freedom, government satisfaction, and political voting. The results show that the middle class, as a whole, tends to be more liberal than the working class. However, the internal divisions among the sub-groups in the middle class are more obvious – the political tendency of the middle class within the redistribution system is conservative but the middle class sub-groups outside the system, especially the new middle class, have the most liberal tendencies and constitute a potential source for change in China. Thus, the middle class is not necessarily a stabilizer or a subverter of the status quo and has a heterogeneous nature shaped by the dual forces of markets and institutions.

Development of the middle class in China as an indicator of poverty reduction

Development of the middle class in China as an indicator of poverty reduction

Internationalised School Teachers’ Experiences of Precarity as Part of the Global Middle Class in China: Towards Resilience Capital

The purpose of this study was to explore three International School Teachers’ experiences as part of the Global Middle Class (GMC) in China. This group is worthy of study, as their numbers are increasingly growing, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. However, little has been written about the negative aspects of sustained global mobility or how individuals, as opposed to families, accrue and deploy cosmopolitan capital for social advantage. In-depth interviewing was employed in order to bring into focus the participants’ experiences of prolonged mobility. In addition to highlighting the precarious aspects of being part of the GMC, the study also identified and illustrated a new form of capital that emerged during data collection and analysis, which was labelled ‘resilience capital’. Resilience capital is produced when teachers take a more positive attitude towards negative or precarious experiences, utilising them in order to develop skills, dispositions and endurance which also can be converted into more traditional economic and cultural forms of capital.

Research environment of clinician–scientists in China in health policy/health services research

ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to describe the research environment of scientists in health services and policy research in China. Study DesignStudy was conducted during the 2016 Westlake Youth Forum with grantees of China Medical Board and key informants. Mixed methods used anonymous, survey of grantees, semistructured open-ended interviews with randomly selected awardees, convenience samples of extramural reviewers, and senior scientists with research experience in China. ResultsAmong 51 awardees, 34 responded fully. Fifty percent were women, averaged 42 years; 88% had PhD/MD and 10 years from their advanced degree. Most had overseas research training (94%); 32% held overseas degrees. Their mean salary, $24,000, barely qualifying as middle class in China. Their confidence using analytical techniques were variable. Their interaction with those using their work seemed nascent. Interviewees echo young researchers elsewhere: lack of mentors, statistical consultation, collaborators, and help to run the gauntlet of requirements in doing research. ConclusionChina's health has improved dramatically since 1949. As the ecology of disease change, expectations increase, and services grow, the expertise to evaluate and improve health care needs to expand. This requires recognition of their importance and a concerted effort to recruit, nurture, and sustain this cadre.

Phoenix Man, An Example of Stigmatization Phenomenon in the China Social Media

With the rapid transformation and development of contemporary Chinese network society, the phenomenon of stigmatization is becoming more and more common in social media communication. The theory about the social stratum and the mobility of society could give us a good theoretical explanation, it could help us understand why a group is stigmatized and excluded. The purpose of this article was to find out the formation mechanism of stigmatization with Phoenix man through literature review and qualitative analysis, linked this phenomenon to social mobility and anxiety of middle-class in China, and finally point out the existing deep-seated social inequality problems and hazards in China. Through the network search engine Baidu and literature review, get the network search index and some other social media information about Phoenix Man, found the process (initial, development and final) of stigmatization phenomenon of Phoenix Man, and made reasonable analysis.By compared Phoenix Man with the two groups, Zhuanjia and Gongzhi, it easily to find that Phoenix Man have always been highly concerned in Chinese social media. Finally, this study found that the stigmatization was originated from the anxiety caused by differences in cultural, customs and habits between middle-class and the lower-class. The stigmatization made the people who came from lower class groups been marginalized, also damaged social justice and harmony.

Lifestyle mobility: shifting conception of home in modern China

This article examines new practices of mobility that are situated in-between tourism and domestic migration. The modern consumer society allows urban middle class in China to move around the country in search of alternative lifestyles and employment. Illustrating the step-by-step transformation where initial tourism leads to relocation, dwelling and new business in Lijiang, this study investigates the reasons and consequences of the relocations, and how such practices shape their cultural conception of home. Phrased here as 'lifestyle mobility', such form of movement allows people to consume an instant satisfaction of their new chosen home while using professional skills to pursue alternative entrepreneurship in the local tourism industry. This article shows how the traditional Chinese notion of home has shifted from a lineage-bounded, fixed-place unit to an individual enterprise for happiness and simultaneous connections to multiple places. However, lifestyle mobility is not only associated with individual agencies, but also closely influenced by external factors and structural conditions, such as class, ethnicity and life stages. These relocation and home-making practices are never a single act, but an on-going process of searching and strategising to meet their multiple needs at various stages of one's life.