Indeed, even with the additional purchasing power, China’s GDP per person is mediocre, ranking 85th in the world and remaining firmly in line with the world average. Since China’s saving rate is so high, its consumer spending ranks even lower. According to the World Bank, individual consumption came to less than $9,300 in 2021, compared with a global average of $12,950. China’s figure, adjusted for purchasing power, remains lower than equivalent spending in South Africa or Peru.
That’s actually crazy because in a capitalist banking system those funds are ideally reinvested into production via loans to firms. Although this is only because a reserve requirement is in place to limit how much can be lent vs how much there is in deposits.
Holy shit lol, it just shows how skewed American metrics for this shit is. "Chinese people only buy what they need rather than spend frivolously and instead keep savings and that means their economy is weak" is pure capitalism brain bullshit. It just shows how completely illogical the capitalist brain is; why would you buy shit you don't need rather than just spend what you need to spend and save the rest just in case?
Workers saving and retiring early? How is that good for property owners? They need to keep on working at risk of bankruptcy and homelessness to an early grave.
Per capita spending is a red herring. Much of the total spending is outside of the consumer sphere. If a nation builds a low-cost rail system that can transport people more cheaply than, say, an outdated domestic airline industry — is that nation poorer than one which has a less efficient infrastructure?
Obviously, if the question is which country is more modern and more developed, then the nation with more efficient and reliable infrastructure is superior.
If the goal is to turn an inefficient and aging society into a good thing, then you abstract from the necessity of all costs, and regard every cost as a benefit, regardless of whether that cost was necessary.