【英语中国】调查：中国消费者仍不愿支出

Western companies are increasingly counting on China to deliver growth not available elsewhere, but the country’s consumers remain reluctant to boost their domestic spending, according to a survey of consumer attitudes published by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Chinese consumers, both urban and rural, although optimistic about the future, remain big savers and cautious spenders, despite their government’s concerted effort to stimulate domestic demand,” the EIU said on Friday.

In spite of a Rmb4,000bn ($589bn) stimulus package, targeted tax breaks and other incentives to boost sales of cars and appliances in rural areas last year, “concerns about healthcare, education and retirement continue to restrain consumption”.

Rural Chinese remain frugal when it comes to spending on items from white goods to cars, because they are focused on providing their own safety net for health costs and retirement, the survey found.

The EIU concluded that while 91 per cent of respondents said they were optimistic about the future – a much higher number than in other countries – even well-off urbanites save a very high percentage of their household income.

Two-thirds of Shanghai residents save a quarter or more of their household income (compared with under 15 per cent for the hardly profligate Swiss), and a third save 35 per cent or more. In less developed smaller cities, the figures are even higher.

Among the half of the rural respondents who do not own a refrigerator, only 40 per cent plan to buy one, and a third of those see it as a distant purchase. “This suggests that more needs to be done to address their broader concerns about the future before programmes aimed at stimulating consumer demand can be more effective,” the EIU said.

Chinese consumers are not just cautious, they are also increasingly demanding, McKinsey found in a consumer attitudes survey released this week.

Although Chinese consumers remained very brand conscious, “they are also tremendously value orientated,” McKinsey said.

“We are seeing more maturity in consumer behaviour,” said Yuval Atsmon, retail expert at McKinsey in Shanghai.

“Consumers are not just swayed by the big brand names, they are willing to pay for products that are better, but are also weighing the different dimensions [of a purchase] in a more mature way.”

根据经济学人信息部(EIU)发表的消费者态度调查报告，西方企业正日趋指望中国提供其它地方无力提供的增长，但中国消费者仍不愿提高自己的支出。

“无论在城市还是农村，中国消费者虽然对未来感到乐观，但仍注重储蓄，而在支出方面相当谨慎，尽管该国政府付出全方位努力刺激国内需求，”EIU上周五表示。

尽管中国政府出台了4万亿元人民币（合5890亿美元）刺激计划、有针对性的税收减免、以及旨在提振农村地区汽车和家用电器销量的其它激励措施，但“对医疗、教育和退休的担忧继续制约着消费”。

调查发现，对于白色家电和汽车等大件商品，中国农村人士仍十分不舍得支出，因为他们需要专注于在医疗费用和退休方面自行构筑安全网。

EIU得出结论称，尽管91%的接受调查者表示自己对未来感到乐观（这个比例比其它国家高得多），但即使是生活滋润的城市人士也把家庭收入的很大一部分投入储蓄。

三分之二的上海居民把四分之一或更多的家庭收入储蓄起来（相比之下，很难称得上挥霍无度的瑞士人仅把不到15%的收入存起来），三分之一的上海居民把35%或更多的收入存起来。在发达程度稍逊的较小城市，储蓄率甚至更高。

在接受调查的农村人士中，有一半没有电冰箱，其中只有40%计划购买一台电冰箱，而其中三分之一将此列为远期规划。“这似乎表明，需要采取更多行动解决他们对于未来的全局性忧虑，才能使旨在刺激消费者需求的计划更加有效，”EIU表示。

麦肯锡(McKinsey)在近日发布的一项消费者态度调查中发现，中国消费者不仅谨慎，要求也越来越高。

虽然中国消费者仍很有品牌意识，但“他们在很大程度上也以价值为导向，”麦肯锡表示。

“我们正看到消费者行为展现出更多的成熟，”麦肯锡在上海的零售业专家安宏宇(Yuval Atsmon)表示。

“消费者不仅受到大品牌的影响，他们还愿意花钱购买更优质的产品，但同时他们也以一种更成熟的方式、从不同层面权衡[购买什么产品]。”

译者/和风