emc

DATA POINTS: Defining China's emerging middle class

The "middle class" is America's favorite socioeconomic group, as well as China's. But the class-defining criteria are as different as cheese and butter. In the US, eight income-led factors define middle class, while in China, according to a ZenithOptimedia study, "middle class" is more of an attitudinal thing. For example, spending habits in the mainland are for outward-facing badges of success versus money spent on private education and kitchen refittings in the West.