By Sun Zhiyan, Research Department of Development Strategy and Regional Economy, DRC

Research Report, No.193, 2021 (Total 6258) 2021-7-9

Abstract: After rapid expansion, China’s household wealth is gradually entering a new stage with structural changes gaining a strong momentum. The proportion of liquid assets such as cash and deposits as well as non-financial assets which mainly include houses in term of per capita household wealth has declined, while that of assets and debts with higher financial risks such as stocks and equity has risen rapidly. The gap of wealth between different social sectors has also widened. This paper notes that the government needs to shift the policy focus to improving the quality of accumulated household wealth and preventing financial risks. The government is supposed to promote higher-quality industrial development to create more jobs with higher income to enhance the wealth of low- and middle-income households and expand middle-income groups. It needs to accelerate and refine the social insurance system, enhance allocation structure optimization of household wealth assets to avoid excessive financial investment, further adjust taxes on housing prices, increase the affordability of low- and middle-income households to purchase homes, and reduce the proportion of such households in debts due to housing purchase.

Keywords: widening gap of household wealth, financial risks, common prosperity