CHINA / Regional
Beijing tops Shanghai in cost-of-living
By Mark South (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-29 06:20
SHANGHAI: Looking at 144 cities around the world, including five cities
on the Chinese mainland as well as Hong Kong and Taipei, the latest
cost-of-living survey has thrown up more than a few surprises.
While China watchers may be left open mouthed by the ranking of Beijing
as a more expensive place to live than Shanghai, Taipei and Singapore,
others around the world will be equally perplexed that Moscow beat off
the likes of Tokyo, London and Geneva to claim the number one spot.
Hong Kong, ranked fourth between third-place Tokyo and London in fifth,
was the most expensive Chinese city with Beijing coming in 14th. Shanghai
was six places below the capital in 20th, Taipei ranked 28th, Shenzhen
44th, Guangzhou 54th and Tianjin 128th, one place below Bangkok.
Conducted by Mercer Human Resources Consulting, whose clients use the
survey to calculate cost of living allowances for staff transferred
internationally, the survey compared the prices of more than 200 items
covering housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and
entertainment costs.
Many of the changes in standing from last year's survey, which listed
Tokyo as the most expensive city, were a result of currency fluctuations,
said senior Mercer consultant Rebecca Powers.
The move to peg the renminbi against a basket of currencies rather than
just the US dollar was a major reason for cities on the Chinese mainland
climbing up the scale, she added, with Shenzhen rising 19 places,
Guangzhou 11 places, Shanghai 10 places, Beijing five places and Tianjin
up three.
This does not explain, however, the apparent anomaly of Beijing being
judged more expensive than Shanghai for the second year running,
something that seemed to come as a shock to everyone, except Professor
Zhang Jun from the Economics Department of Fudan University.
"Actually I was not surprised by this result at all," he said. "The cost
of real estate in Beijing has been very high, but the main reason for
Beijing being ranked more expensive is because of its social make-up.
"Shanghai has a lot of middle-income earners, where as Beijing has a lot
of high earners, a lot of people on low incomes and far fewer people in
the middle.
"As a result, prices tend towards the extremes; while cheap things are
very cheap, the high-end goods and services are very expensive, certainly
more expensive than in Shanghai."
With the survey looking at things like the rental of a luxury two-bed
apartment, a genuine music CD, a cup of coffee, including service charge,
and the price of an international daily newspaper, it is perhaps
unsurprising that Beijing outranked its east coast rival, despite
Shanghai's more affluent reputation.
Elsewhere in the world, Seoul, South Korea, was the most expensive city
in Asia, coming in second overall, Singapore ranked 17th, Frankfurt, the
highest ranked German city, came in at 61st and New York held onto its
position as the most expensive US city in 10th.
(China Daily 06/29/2006 page3)
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