【英语生活】京沪外国人生活成本升高

If you're living in Beijing and feel like your dumpling and roast duck habits have gotten more expensive lately, it might not be your imagination.

According to the latest cost-of-living survey produced by consultancy ECA International, Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have gotten more expensive for expatriates in the past year. Thanks to currency appreciation and inflation, ECA says, when it comes to day-to-day expenses, both cities outstrip traditionally pricier cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Among 425 locations examined by ECA International, Beijing now ranks as the 22nd most expensive, immediately behind Adelaide in Australia, and Sweden's Stockholm. That's up from 35 in their global rankings the year prior. Meanwhile, Shanghai ranks as 26th most expensive, up from 41st the year prior.

Both were among the top 10 most expensive cities in Asia, with Beijing finishing 5th and Shanghai in 7th. (The top four were all in Japan, including Tokyo as the perennial No. 1.)

Other Chinese cities that shot up in the ranks include Suzhou, ranked as the 23rd most expensive location in Asia for expats, up from 113th last year, and Chengdu, which clocked in as the 24th most expensive location in Asia, up from 114th. Hong Kong also rose, and currently ranks as the 32nd most expensive city in the world, up from 58th in 2011.

Inflation and a strengthening of the yuan against other currencies have fueled the trend, says Lee Quane, Asia regional director of ECA International. 'Essentially what's happening in China is that prices are rising at a faster rate than they are in the West, and that's caused Beijing to leapfrog all those other locations in the rankings,' says Mr. Quane.

ECA's calculations factor in goods such as groceries, meals out, transport, clothing and more. They do not factor in the cost of housing or school fees.

Mr. Quane also said that the survey is geared toward assessing costs for expatriates choosing to live an 'international lifestyle' -- for example, those who opt to buy their groceries at a Carrefour, Walmart or Tesco, and 'not necessarily choose to shop in wet markets like a local,' he says.

The difference in cost-of-living expenses is sizable across Asia: For example, the day-to-day cost of living in Tokyo is three times more expensive than that of Karachi, says ECA. However, Mr. Lee says differences between similarly situated cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, aren't enough to make a big difference to many expatriates, he says.

Currently, Beijing's day-to-day cost of living is about 10% more expensive than Hong Kong's, says Mr. Quane.

'The difference exists, it's not negligible, but it's more a case of a few percentage points here and there. It's not enough to make people up sticks and leave Beijing.'

The cost of breathing air in the Chinese capital might be another matter, however.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images2012年11月23日，北京，消费者在免费品尝食品。
如果你生活在北京，最近觉得经常吃的饺子和烤鸭变得更贵了，那可能并不是你的臆想。

根据咨询公司ECA International新发布的一份生活成本调查报告，过去一年驻外人员在北京和上海等中国城市的生活成本上升。ECA说，由于人民币升值和通货膨胀，京沪两市的日常生活成本都超过了历来生活成本更高的新加坡和香港等城市。

在ECA International调查的425个城市中，北京的生活成本目前排名第22位，紧随澳大利亚的阿德莱德和瑞典的斯德哥尔摩。北京上年的全球排名是第35位。与此同时，上海从上一年的41名上升到26名。

京沪两市都进入了亚洲最贵城市前10名，北京第五，上海第七。前四名都在日本，其中东京常年位居榜首。

排名大幅上升的其他中国城市还有苏州和成都。苏州的外国人生活成本从去年亚洲第113名上升到23名，成都从亚洲第114名上升到24名。香港排名也有所上升，从2011年世界第58名上升为32名。

ECA亚洲区总监关礼廉(Lee Quane)表示，通货膨胀和人民币相对其他货币升值是上述趋势的推动因素。关礼廉说，中国的情况实质上是物价上涨比西方更快，这使北京在排名上超越了其他一些城市。

ECA的计算包括日常生活用品和食品、外出就餐、交通、服装等方面，不包括居住成本或上学费用。

关礼廉还说，调查评估的多为选择“国际生活方式”的驻外雇员的生活成本，比如那些在家乐福(Carrefour)、沃尔玛(Walmart)或乐购(Tesco)购物，而不一定像当地人一样在菜市场购物的雇员。

亚洲各地生活成本相差很大。比如据ECA说，东京的日常生活成本是巴基斯坦卡拉奇的三倍。但关礼廉说，生活水平相近的城市（如上海、北京和新加坡）生活成本的差异对很多驻外人员来说区别不大。

关礼廉说，目前北京的日常生活成本比香港高10%左右。

他说，差异是存在的，而且并非可以忽略不计的，但也就是相差几个百分点的事，不足以让人离开北京，迁居他地。

但呼吸中国首都的空气带来的代价可能就是另外一回事了。