Chinese Are Richer, But Not Happier
Per capita income has more than doubled since 1994, and more Chinese own VCRs, color televisions, and telephones than ever before, a recent Gallup Organization poll shows. But despite this increased wealth and greater access to modern goods, many Chinese say their quality of life has not risen. In fact, the poll revealed that the ratio of Chinese expressing satisfaction to those showing dissatisfaction has actually fallen slightly over time.
The poll, which covered 15,000 adults across all provinces, showed Chinese most pleased about their personal health and family life and most dissatisfied with their amount of savings. Curiously, more rural respondents report being satisfied by the communities they live in, although urban dwellers enjoy higher satisfaction in their possessions, leisure time, and jobs.
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Chinese Brands Don't Pack a Punch
Chinese companies failed to break into the Interbrand-Businessweek annual list of the world's 100 most valuable brands. The value of a brand is defined as the likely future earnings of a company name. American firms dominated the list with 54 brands, representing a wide range of industries including high technology, consumer goods, financial services, and entertainment. Indeed, the top five were US brands: Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, and Intel, in order of brand value. Thirty-four brands were European while only eight—seven Japanese and one South Korean—were Asian.
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Profits in the Countryside
Rural credit cooperatives, one of the few sources of credit in rural areas, posted their first profits in more than 10 years, according to the state's bank regulator. Of the 26,245 rural co-ops, 81 percent were profitable. Overall, rural co-ops reduced their nonperforming loans (NPLs) by $6.5 billion, or 6.3 percent, in 2004. The aggregate NPL ratio of rural co-ops fell from 29.4 percent to 23.1 percent.
The government touted its pilot reform programs in eight regions—Chongqing, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Shaanxi, Shandong, and Zhejiang—as a major reason for the co-ops' recent profitability. These reforms gave subsidies and tax breaks to co-ops, allowed them to exchange bad assets for central bank notes, and permitted them to restructure their property rights schemes according to regional conditions.
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