TAIPEI, Taiwan — China's 1.4 billion consumers once spent with enough abandon to help drive the global economy. Now, one of the hottest topics on Chinese social media is how to save money.
"The main thing is just not to starve to death," one video blogger advised in a post detailing how she subsisted on snack samples and free meals from temples and student canteens. Another gained a following in reviewing children's meals that adults in Shanghai can eat on the cheap. "This is so economical," she marveled over a $1.
80 dinner. "They also included fried chicken." Other accounts tout $8 gym memberships and the merits of waiting for sales at fast-fashion clothing stores.
The tips appear to be working, as household savings hit record highs. But experts say that's bad news for the economy, because widespread scrimping is contributing to a dramatic slowdown in growth this year. While the bigger factor is a worsening real estate downturn, which has eroded demand for commodities and diminished a crucial vehicle for household wealth and investment, economists say China's economy is unlikely to recover without a rise in domestic spending.
Hou Muhan, a 28-year-old modeling agent living in Shanghai, used to borrow money from her parents every month to cover her bills. But this year, after they started asking her to pay them back, she began tracking her expenses and became much stricter on spending at bars or trendy restaurants. "I noticed every time I exceed my budget it's usually becaus.