(Photo/Xinhua)

The dama economy, while representing the consumption and investment behavior of middle-aged and senior Chinese citizens, is also a lively reflection on the development of China’s comprehensive national strength over the last 70 years.

Chinese damas, or middle-aged Chinese women, received worldwide attention for buying up a tremendous amount of gold in 2013 when gold prices fell sharply. 

Dama gold investment era

Liu Weiqin, a woman in east China’s Zhejiang Province, still remembers the rush on gold in 2013. Liu never studied financial knowledge. It was her 10 years of investment experience, or intuition, that drove her to join the trend to buy gold.

As they started making money, many Chinese women like Liu started to invest because they didn’t want to leave their hard-earned money “lying idle”. 

The rush on gold in 2013 didn’t get these Chinese damas the gains they had expected. In fact, many saw their money tied up as the prices of gold remained at a low level during the following years.

According to Liu, after some failed investment experiences over the years, she has become prudent with her investment plans, and witnessed improvements in her investment skills. 

Dama economy is a symbol of the purchasing power of Chinese people

As a Chinese family’s wealth is traditionally in the hands of the women, who are the decision-makers and implementers of domestic family affairs, the rising of the dama economy has become a symbol of China’s economic strength and the purchasing power of its people.

According to a report released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s GDP in 2018 was 175 times more than that in 1952, representing an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent. 

Individual Chinese investors have shown a growing tendency for value investing, as indicated by a report on individual investors in 2018 issued by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The proportion of individual investors value investing had risen to 28.6 percent last year, said the report.

China is at a critical stage of economic transition and upgrading, pointed out experts, explaining that the emergence of dama economy would likely create a new growth point for the consumption-led Chinese economy. 

Dama economy reveals consumption potential of certain groups in China

The consumption behavior of Chinese damas has revealed the consumption potential of multiple groups, with the middle-aged and senior consumer group being an important one.

As official data indicated, the number of senior Chinese over the age of 60 will reach around 255 million by the year 2020, accounting for 17.8 percent of the country’s total population.

In addition, by 2020, the consumer market driven by seniors is expected to hit 3.8 trillion yuan ($534.6 billion), according to a report released by the China Silver Industry Association, noting that the industry serving seniors will probably become a new growth point of the Chinese economy. 

After all their hard work, Chinese damas are enjoying the happiness brought by the development of the motherland. 

Their growing needs for financial management and consumption are not only reflections of China’s economic development and the accumulated wealth of Chinese people, but also the driving force of progress in various industries.