Econintersect: Chinese consumers have something in common with their American counterparts: Consumer confidence is low. The Shanghai Consumer Sentiment Index fell in the second quarter to a two-year low due to rising inflation, a weak stock market and a flurry of natural disasters, a survey showed yesterday. The value of the index for 2Q/2011 was 102.2. This is above the level of 100 which marks the boundary between positive and negative sentiment, but the index was much higher in the comparison periods: 107 in the first quarter and at 106.2 in 2Q/2011.Unlike the U.S., where consumer confidence fell to historic lows during the Great Recession, Chinese consumers never dropped to the neutral 100 mark. But the Chinese sentiment is like that in the U.S. in that it is not breaking away from recent lows. As GEI Analysis has reported, consumer confidence and sentiment indexes, along with small business optimism readings, while above the historic low readings during the recession, remain near levels associated with the low points of previous recessions.
Sources: Shanghai Daily and GEI Analysis
