China’s Urbanization Unlikely to Lead to Fast Growth of Middle Class: UW Geographer
University of WashingtonThe growing number of people living in China’s cities is considered a boon for the consumer goods market. That is based on the assumption that there will be more families with more disposable income when poor farmers from China’s countryside move to cities. But the assumption overlooks a policy from the era of Chinese leader Mao Zedong that restricts the upward mobility of its rural citizens, says a University of Washington geographer.