China’s consumption rate is widely believed to be too low. In this paper, we show that official statistics have significantly underestimated Chinese household consumption. First, a lot of private consumption is paid for by companies but cannot be accounted for in official statistics. Second,...

The generally held belief that China’s consumption is too low is a myth based on inadequate theory, a misreading of official statistics and the use of market exchange rates for making international comparisons. Chinese official statistics underestimate consumption expenditure on housing,...

China's consumption rate is widely believed to be too low. In this paper, we show that official statistics have significantly underestimated Chinese household consumption. First, housing consumption is grossly underestimated due to the construction cost-based method. Second, a lot of private...