Shopping fever takes over urban Chinese women

New Delhi, Aug 25 (ANI): A survey has found that urban Chinese women are spending more and saving less, pouring 63 percent of their income into consumer goods ranging from clothes to cosmetics last year.

According to the survey by the Women of China magazine, women saved only 24 percent of their incomes last year, which is in contrast to the 30 percent they spent and 55 percent they saved in 2006, China Daily reported.iu Zhonglu, the organizer of the survey, said the poll of 1,074 women in 10 big cities showed that they put less money in their bank accounts and developed a growing passion for spending instead.

The survey found that while most of the spending had been done on their clothing and apparel for the past four years, now it is being splurged on cosmetics, health-related goods, travelling and digital equipments.

The respondents of the survey spent an average of 21,900 yuan on consumer goods last year.

"It is an inarguable truth that women decide consumption volume," Han Xiangjing, head of the Women of China magazine, said.

Han said a series of stimulus policies such as subsidizing the buying of domestic appliances have increased the purchasing power of women.

"Since Chinese women are playing a stronger role in household finances, they can spend more money improving their lives," Han said.

Liu said changes in consumption, especially the increase of online shopping, has also contributed to the growing consumption of urban Chinese women.

China's total retail sales of consumer goods in 2009 was 12.53 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 15.5 percent, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.

In the survey, 6.3 percent said the financial crisis has impacted their quality of life, 44.2 percent said the influence was not that bad, and 18.7 percent said the impact was slight.

However, nearly 37 percent said they would not change their buying habits due to the fluctuating economic environment, and 6.8 percent said they should buy more to resist inflation.

"Women are the decision makers of their family's consumption. And they set the trends in fashion as well," Huang Qingyi, former vice-president of the All-China Women's Federation, said.

"Therefore, the consumption of women is crucial to the expansion of domestic demand," Huang added. (ANI)