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I don't claim to know all of their economy, I am just stating what I know. Additionally it was months ago, not years ago.

Reports estimating numbers in 2025 also doesn't represent what is going on there now.

Additionally 12k-17k per year isn't enough to afford much in their urban areas. They wouldn't be able to afford to go out for coffee and meals regularly let alone own an apartment in the city or a car.

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- "While China's middle class RIGHT NOW consists of only a quarter of the population" - most chinese don't drink coffee, they drink tea and they make it at home - you can go out for a local meal for two people at a local restaurant for under $5, including food and beer - rent for a small local apartment is RMB 1500 ($200) / month

$15,000 USD goes a LONG way with living costs like this.

Are you intentionally being deceptive about this subject?

Your original claim was "Middle class. Have you been there to see the 300+ million people that are now buying apartments, cars, make up, creams, designer clothes et al.?"

Now we are talking about far less than 300 million making 15k per year and scraping by renting a small apartment and unable to go buy coffee regularly, let alone cars/housing.

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