How China's rampant consumerism is bucking the slow growth trend

Amid news of slow headline growth, consumer spending in China has been growing at breakneck speed. Rob Brewis, investment manager at Aubrey Capital, looks at the reasons behind this rapid rise.

What is clear from a two-week tour of China - taking in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Qingdao and more than 1,900 miles of high speed train travel in between - is that despite the slower headline economic growth rate of recent years, consumption growth is strong and, if anything, accelerating.  There appear to be two key reasons why this is true: one is more cyclical, but the other looks structural and likely to unfold over many years to come. High property prices The first, more cyclical reason for strong consumer spending growth is the recent sharp rally in ...