The expansion of China’s national economy remained within a reasonable range last year, with a total GDP growth of 6.6 percent, laying a solid foundation for the enhancement of the China Consumer Trend Index, said a report released by Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company, on Jan. 23.

The report showed that the China Consumer Trend Index, which measures perceptions of local job prospects, personal finance and willingness to spend, saw steady growth in the fourth quarter of last year, up one point from the previous year to 113 points. Consumer Trend levels above 100 indicate optimism and below 100 indicate pessimism.

Andy Zhao, president of Nielsen China, said, “As the country’s favorable policies on trade, private companies, micro-and-small enterprises gradually take effect, the Chinese economy has shifted away from high-speed growth to high-quality growth in 2018.”

The Nielsen report showed all three components of the Consumer Trend Index witnessed steady growth. However, job prospects saw the most notable leap, jumping from 70 to 75 points in one year, while willingness to spend increased by three points to 60, and personal finance remained at 69 points.

"China has been making concerted efforts to adopt employment policies, encourage entrepreneurship, stabilize the economic prospects, enhance companies’ confidence and competitiveness, and create favorable conditions for the job market. All these factors helped underpin the consumers’ job prospects," Zhao noted.

Most notably, the north and west of China saw the biggest growth in job prospects, with the north jumping four indicator points to 69, while the west jumped seven points to 68.

Zhao suggested that the three-point increase in the country’s willingness to spend is down to the post-90s generation, who make up about 28 percent of internet users in China, the highest proportion among all demographic groups.

This group has fast become the leading consumption force online, with a higher willingness to spend than their older counterparts. The data shows that willingness to spend among the 90s generation stood at 63 points, higher than the post-80s (60 points), 1970s (54 points) and 1960s (54 points).

Zhao explained, “Now, the post-90s are gradually becoming the main consumption force. They are influenced by the internet and more digital-savvy. The digital economy has become the core driver of economic growth, and thus transformed the consumption pattern and boosted consumption upgrade.”

There may be another reason that this generation is more willing to spend. The Nielsen data showed that those belonging to the post-90s generation have a more positive attitude towards future income, with sixty-seven percent of those surveyed revealing they had “good” personal finance expectations.

For post-95s, income is a top concern, with 65 percent of this group stating that they are worried about income. In turn, this age group is more cautious about spending, with only 54 percent of respondents having "excellent" or "good" willingness to spend, compared with 72 percent of the post-90s.

As China continues to implement policies that will create more job prospects and raise disposable income, the country can expect to maintain steady growth throughout 2019.