China's savings rate world's highest (2)

Housing prices have soared in the past decade. And since last year, under the government’s policy to cool the overheated housing market, the down payment required for an ordinary buyer is now over half of the total price.

Han Peng said, "So let me illustrate just how expensive an apartment has become. I’m standing on an area of one square meter. This square meter in an Beijing apartment would cost 30 thousand yuan. But the average monthly salary here in the city is less than 5 thousand (4672 yuan)... which means, that after working for a whole month, with no spending at all, you can only buy less than one sixth of this area. No wonder people want to save rather than spend."

Figures from the IMF show that China’s personal savings have surpassed all other countries in the world, with an average rate of over 50 percent. The world’s average is no more than 20 percent.

And the high cost of housing is not the only reason.

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