State of consumerism in China is strange

End consumer is out and about spending still. Malls are full and bustling but everyone is cost conscious. You see it in the super apps

Downsells and discounts everywhere. Every shop is trying to undercut everyone else. Ends up in this brain drain of time spent in WeChat hunting for deals

Meanwhile everyone knows the state of the economy and the deflation that’s happening. State media isn’t allowed to talk about it (of course)

Cracks are starting to show. If you’ve done business with the govt they’re slow to make payments. They’re making it tough to sell real estate so middle class has all this money locked up in apartments

I’m just wondering how it all ends up crashing down

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My friends who live in China and are well-to-do by any global standard paint a very rosy picture of consumption there. Me living in California is always the easy joke for them of course as it’s perceived as high spend, low return in contrast to China.

They tell me life is amazing. They buy Labubus, Maextro S800s, get their food delivered at any hour of the night, and have a guy who comes to give their cats a weekly spa treatment for very little cost. They tell me the average person’s life in China is so luxurious that Americans on RedNote are getting depressed from seeing it from afar.

I believe all that to be true, that life’s very good for some people. But just like in any country with convenience, there has to be an entire class of people in low wage roles who exist to support this level of consumption for everyone else. I wonder about them, and how they spend.

I’m also curious about youth trends globally because they will be the bulk of the workforce soon. Trends like higher unemployment, rejection of hustle culture, aspirational/performative luxury. In the U.S. this has led to more BNPL behavior. I’m curious if similar is happening there.

These trends plus what’s going on with the real estate sector (unfinished developments, slowing construction, people investing in property as primary asset) all make me wonder how consumption really is in China. Beyond the labubus.

would love to know what observations and thoughts you've had on the topic. i'd thought about it loosely when i was here 2 years ago and had these fresh anecdotal points from talking to my wife's friends and family here the past couple weeks