City folk aim for healthy living
( 2003-06-18 10:24) (China Daily)
China's city-dwellers are spending more on those things that come with a good
health promise,, an official survey has found.
Sanitary essentials, sports
goods, organic food and communication gadgets figure high on the spend list of
urban consumers both during SARS and now as the disease is brought basically
under control in China.
The spending shift is based on a belief that such
items can help people lead safer and healthier lives, and help them ward off
illness
The conclusion was made by the Price Monitoring Centre under the
National Development and Reform Commission in its recent national survey.
The
centre's branches in 35 major cities across China conducted the survey
throughout May. It includes the responses of more than 3,000 people.
Xu
Lianzhong, branch director with the centre told China Daily that a report based
on the findings has already been submitted to central government.
"We aimed
to locate the preference changes of consumers brought about by the SARS
outbreak,'' said Xu. "The findings are helpful in improving the decision-making
process of the government and enterprise.''
According to the survey, about 80
per cent of urban residents planned to increase their expenditure on sanitary
essentials. And some 35 per cent of respondents said they were considering
buying an electrical disinfecting appliance.
The SARS outbreak also caused
many to rethink their eating habits. Nearly eight out of 10 surveyed have
increased their expenditure on vegetables, fruits, beverages and organic
foodstuffs.
In those SARS-hit cities such as Beijing and South China's
Guangzhou, nearly half of the residents have increased and will continue to
increase their spending on keep-fit equipment.
To cut the level of
face-to-face contact, city dwellers turned to the Internet and other distant
methods of communication. About 20 per cent of those polled said their Internet
spending was rising.
Yu Xiaoxi, an employee with the Beijing-based joint
venture CU Lighting said her family has increased its percentage of the family's
budget on healthy foods and fruit, sports and keep-fit goods and the
Internet.
"SARS has changed my husband and me a lot and we care more about
health than before,'' said Yu.
In May, the couple spent about 1,200 yuan
(US$144) on fruit, vegetables, keeping fit and working online from home.
Compared with their previous monthly expenditure, it spelt an increase of nearly
300 yuan (US$36), she said. Adding:
"We will continue the
trend.''
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