Author Explores Chinese Middle Class

Written by Wang Fangqing Wednesday, July 13 2011

Snapshot Helen Wang
SHANGHAI, China – Helen Wang is a Forbes columnist and independent business consultant based in the Silicon Valley. Her recent book, The Chinese Dream, focuses on the rising middle class in China and how this group has reshaped the Chinese economy and changed the dynamics of the world in which we live. Wang holds a master’s in international development policy from Stanford University.

Born and raised in Hangzhou, a fast-growing city close to Shanghai, Wang left China for the United States to pursue her own dream in 1989 after graduating from a local university. A woman who grew from a young Chinese girl not fluent in English to an experienced business woman helping American companies gain knowledge about the Chinese market, Wang shared her growth, life, and her new book with Womenetics during a visit to China.

Womenetics: What is your book about?
Helen Wang: My book, The Chinese Dream, taking its title from the American Dream and alluding to an easily identifiable concept, shows that many fears about China are misplaced. A portrait of the emerging Chinese middle class, the book deconstructs several myths about China and offers an alternative view that a large Chinese middle class may provide an answer for America’s economic woes.

The idea of the book is “unity in diversity” – how China and the West can learn from each other. Although China and the West have notable differences, many of these differences are complementary to each other rather than contradictory. For example, Chinese are known for over-saving while Americans are over-consuming, neither of which is sustainable, so they should learn from each other. It is the same in culture. Chinese culture values collective effort while Western culture encourages individualism. But if both are practiced to extreme there will be problems. Too much emphasis on collectivism suppresses creativity, and too much individualism leads to self-centeredness.

Womenetics: China has never officially defined middle class, which is a typically Western term. When you wrote the book, how did you define the class?
Wang: In the book, the middle class is defined by family income between 5,000 yuan ($773) and 30,000 yuan ($4,641) per month. However, owning an apartment is essential.

Womenetics: What are the differences between the Chinese middle class and the American middle class, in terms of what they care about and the lifestyle they are pursuing?
Wang: In China, middle class is a prestige group, which people look up to. People of the middle class are expected to have good manners and a trendy lifestyle. But in the United States, the middle class is nothing special, as the majority of Americans think they belong to the middle class. Unlike a Chinese middle class family who prefers to live in the downtown areas, a typical American middle class family usually lives in the suburbs. That is because in China, the gap of living conditions between city and rural areas is big, and there is practically no suburb.

Womenetics: Why did you write the book?
Wang: In 2004, I returned to Stanford University as an industrial fellow to work on projects that use technology to help underserved communities. After 10 years working in start-ups in Silicon Valley, I felt it was time for me to do something that I care dearly about and use my skills for the greater good. I was interested in addressing social problems and finding innovative solutions that could help transform the system and allow society to take new leaps.

The project I participated in – e-Mobilizer – was to help craftsmen in rural areas to access the internet marketplace using their mobile phones. It was something like Twitter. During this period, I traveled back and forth to China extensively to do field work. I was very impressed by the fast changes in China. Meanwhile, I also saw the growing fears and misunderstanding of China in the West, which gave me the idea of writing a book. As a Chinese native and American citizen, I feel I can be a bridge between China and the West.

Womenetics: Emigration is now a very hot topic among Chinese middle class. How do you look at this?
Wang: I think the growing number of Chinese middle class families moving abroad shows they feel insecure about the situation in China. It is certainly not something good for China, but for those people, they have to know life in another country will be tough because emigration involves lots of changes in life, including career and social network. On the other hand, based on my experiences in the United States, I believe as long as you are talented and determined, you will have opportunities to make your dream come true.

Womenetics: As an immigrant yourself, what is your dream in the United States.? Have you fulfilled it?
Wang: I believe life is a journey, not a destination. I am happy with where I am in life. I have a career that I love, I have a supportive husband, and I'm living my dreams – the dreams I dreamed since my childhood.

I remember how overwhelmed I was during the first few years in the United States. I had to work part-time as a waitress to support myself. I had been unemployed, and I tried hard to integrate myself into the American society. Like many immigrants, there was a time I had difficulty to identify myself. Americans said I was a foreigner while the Chinese said I was not Chinese enough. It took me quite a while to reconcile my American citizenship with my Chinese roots. But looking back, all these setbacks pushed me to grow up and become stronger.

Womenetics: How would you prefer spending your spare time?
Wang: On my spare time, I like to do yoga and dance. I also love traveling whenever have a long vacation. Cancun is my favorite place so far.

Wang Fangqing (Frances Wang) is a freelance reporter based in Shanghai. For the past four years, she has been writing for a variety of English language publications, including Tobacco Journal International, Soap Perfumery & Cosmetics and Securities Industry News, reporting business trends in Asia. A Chinese native speaker, she is also fluent in Japanese and English.