What is the average cost of living in China?
Despite the remarkable achievements in its economic development and modernisation for the past two decades, China is still considered a developing country where resources and the cost of labour are very cheap. Average Chinese earnings are comparatively quite low and therefore the cost of living is low. As a general guide, common food stuffs 1 RMB = $1 buying power. The cost of food, clothing, utilities, rent, electronics and public transportation, etc. can be very low indeed. The highest average monthly salary of university graduates who have majored in English in large cities, such as Beijing, rarely exceeds 2,000 RMB for the first three years. However, in so saying that, if you purchase imported products or products manufactured by western companies you can expect to pay similar or commensurate prices with what you would pay elsewhere, outside of China. Coca-Cola, for example, is very expensive when compared to local beverages, MacDonald’s hamburgers could not possibly be described a
