國外熱議：就人均GDP而言，墨西哥和阿根廷的排名高于中國，但為何我認(rèn)為中國的人均生活水平明顯優(yōu)于這兩個(gè)國家？是我的錯(cuò)覺嗎？

Qi Chen Question: In terms of per capita GDP, Mexico and Argentina rank higher than China, but why do I think China's per capita living standard is obviously better than these two countries? Am I wrong?

提問：按人均GDP計(jì)算，墨西哥和阿根廷都排在中國前面，但為什么我覺得中國的人均生活水平明顯優(yōu)于這兩個(gè)國家？我是不是錯(cuò)覺？

Answer: Correlation between per capita GDP and living standard is loose at best.

人均GDP與生活水平之間的關(guān)聯(lián)最多只能算是勉強(qiáng)相關(guān)。

I mean, technically, the average GDP of Elon Musk and a homeless American is quite high as well, that doesn’t help said homeless American at all.

我的意思是，從技術(shù)上講，埃隆·馬斯克與一個(gè)無家可歸的美國人的平均GDP都可能很高，但這對(duì)那個(gè)無家可歸的人一點(diǎn)幫助都沒有。

There is also the matter that GDP depends on the analysis method. For example, if nation XX’s health care is free or cost next to nothing, then it also generate very little GDP, on the other hand, it will improve the living standard tremendously.

還有一點(diǎn)，GDP取決于統(tǒng)計(jì)方法。例如，如果某國的醫(yī)療服務(wù)是免費(fèi)或幾乎免費(fèi)，那么這部分“產(chǎn)出”就很少、貢獻(xiàn)的GDP很低，但它卻極大地提升了國民的生活水平。

Not to mention stuff like public infrastructure/education will improve vast amount of living standard, but not much GDP.

更別提公共基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施和教育，它們能大幅改善生活水平，卻未必對(duì)GDP有明顯拉動(dòng)。

Finally, there is a matter of disaster resilience. Luxembourg, for example, has extremely high per capita GDP, but if a big earthquake or a war hits the nation, then it has very little method to resist it. On the other hand, the same earthquake which would have devastated Luxembourg would do very little to China, because it will proportionally impact a much much smaller percentage of the nation, thus allowing the other parts of the nation to help the affected region.

最后還有抗災(zāi)能力的問題。比如盧森堡人均GDP極高，但如果遭遇大地震或戰(zhàn)爭，它幾乎沒有足夠的方法去應(yīng)對(duì)。相反，同樣的災(zāi)難對(duì)中國影響就要小得多，因?yàn)橹袊赜蚝腿丝诜植紡V泛，受災(zāi)區(qū)域所占比例很小，其他地區(qū)可以迅速支援救援。

Similarly, no one considers Luxembourg of any military importance. Back in WWII, Luxembourg had something like two battalion worth of troops (about 700 men) and the entire nation fell to Germany in less than eight hours.

同樣地，沒人認(rèn)為盧森堡具有任何軍事戰(zhàn)略價(jià)值。二戰(zhàn)時(shí)，盧森堡只有大約兩個(gè)營（約700人）的部隊(duì)，整個(gè)國家在不到八小時(shí)內(nèi)就被德國占領(lǐng)。

In comparison, even when China was poor back in the 1950s, it had more than sufficient strength to defy even the superpowers. It is not exactly easy to measure peace and life.

相比之下，即便在20世紀(jì)50年代中國還很貧窮，卻已具備足夠的力量與超級(jí)大國抗衡。和平與生活質(zhì)量無法簡單用一個(gè)指標(biāo)來衡量。

Plus, China is really a rough oddball nation as far as GDP goes. As a nation that practices democrat centralism (meaning only qualified senior administrators participate in leadership election), the Chinese has a tendency to undervalue its GDP. For example, micro-business in China literally don’t count as a GDP. So your street stalls and small vendors basically don’t exist for Chinese GDP calculation (they do exists, however, for resource distribution data).

此外，就GDP統(tǒng)計(jì)而言，中國確實(shí)是個(gè)怪異的例外。中國實(shí)行民主集中制（即只有合格的高級(jí)管理者參與領(lǐng)導(dǎo)選舉），在統(tǒng)計(jì)上往往低估GDP。例如，中國的微型企業(yè)幾乎不計(jì)入GDP，所以大街小攤和小商販在GDP統(tǒng)計(jì)中“等于不存在”（但在資源分配數(shù)據(jù)里會(huì)被考慮）。

No, I am not saying whether this is good or bad, just that in comparison to the typical GDP calculation method used in other major economies, China’s GDP tend to be smaller than the actual value.

我并不是評(píng)判這樣做是好是壞，只是相較于其他主要經(jīng)濟(jì)體的通用GDP統(tǒng)計(jì)方法，中國的GDP數(shù)據(jù)往往低于其真實(shí)經(jīng)濟(jì)規(guī)模。

Aya Shawn Well, China is indeed a very special country.

嗯，中國確實(shí)是個(gè)非常特殊的國家。

I have visited more than 20 countries, including Southeast Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

我曾訪問過20多個(gè)國家，包括東南亞、歐洲、北美和南美。

In most cases, GDP denominated in US dollars can indeed reflect the local living standards, although there are some errors due to differences in purchasing power.

在大多數(shù)情況下，用美元計(jì)價(jià)的GDP能在一定程度上反映當(dāng)?shù)厣钏剑M管由于購買力差異會(huì)存在誤差。

But I think at least two countries are special: China, and India. Of these two countries, China is more typical.

但我認(rèn)為至少有兩個(gè)國家很特殊：中國和印度。其中，中國更具代表性。

GDP denominated in US dollars does not really reflect the living standards in this country, and even PPP is not reliable.

用美元計(jì)價(jià)的GDP并不能真正反映該國的生活水平，即使換算購買力平價(jià)（PPP）也不夠可靠。

I once wrote an answer comparing the living standards of an ordinary taxi driver in China, Japan and South Korea, which I think fully reflects this phenomenon.

我曾寫過一篇回答，比較了中國、日本和韓國一位普通出租車司機(jī)的生活水平，我認(rèn)為那很能說明這個(gè)現(xiàn)象。

But I have not analyzed the reasons for this phenomenon. After thinking for a while, I think there may be the following reasons

但我之前并未深入剖析其原因。思考片刻后，我認(rèn)為可能有以下幾點(diǎn)：

1.Local supply When a country's local supply of goods and services is richer, people can directly use their own currency to obtain a cheaper life, which means that even if the dollar-denominated figures are not high, the actual goods and services obtained are abundant.

1.本地供給 當(dāng)一個(gè)國家本地商品和服務(wù)供給充足時(shí)，人們可以用本幣享受更廉價(jià)的生活，意味著即便用美元計(jì)價(jià)的數(shù)字不高，實(shí)際獲得的商品和服務(wù)卻很豐富。

Coincidentally, China is such a country. They supply almost 95% of the world's industrial products and 90% of agricultural products, and they need to rely on imports for very few products and services. This is unique in the world. Overall, China needs to rely on the international market for only three types of things: oil, minerals and semiconductors. In extreme cases, only semiconductors.

而中國恰好就是這樣一個(gè)國家。中國供應(yīng)了全球近95%的工業(yè)品和90%的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品，僅少數(shù)商品和服務(wù)需依賴進(jìn)口。這在全球范圍內(nèi)都極為罕見?？傮w而言，中國僅在石油、礦產(chǎn)和半導(dǎo)體三類領(lǐng)域需依賴國際市場——極端情況下甚至只剩半導(dǎo)體。

Therefore, China's wealth denominated in US dollars will only be truly equal to the value of the US dollar when purchasing these three things.

因此，中國以美元計(jì)價(jià)的財(cái)力，只有在購買這三類物資時(shí)，才真正等同于該美元價(jià)值。

India is similar, but not as typical as China. India's agricultural industry is sufficient, but the supply of industrial products is obviously flawed.

印度也有類似情況，但不如中國典型。印度農(nóng)業(yè)產(chǎn)品充足，但工業(yè)品供給明顯不足。

2. Artificially low currency value The purchasing power of the domestic currency is high in the country, but not high in the global market. The value of the currency is not completely free-floating, but controlled by certain means.

2. 人為低估的貨幣價(jià)值 本國貨幣在國內(nèi)購買力很強(qiáng)，但在國際市場購買力并不高。其匯率并非完全自由浮動(dòng)，而是通過某些手段加以控制。

China has been deliberately suppressing the value of the CNY to about 14% of the US dollar, which is beneficial to the competitiveness of China's manufacturing industry.

中國長期有意將人民幣匯率壓在約14%美元水平，以增強(qiáng)制造業(yè)的國際競爭力。

But in turn, this suppresses the GDP in the data, making China's wealth look less. People's incomes look lower.

但這也在數(shù)據(jù)上“抑制”了GDP，使得中國的財(cái)富顯得偏低，居民收入似乎也不高。

This is not conducive to Chinese people buying global goods, but in fact, except for things like Apple phones and Tesla cars, they don't need these things much.

這不利于國人購買全球商品，但實(shí)際上，除蘋果手機(jī)、特斯拉等少數(shù)高端消費(fèi)品外，普通人并不太需要這些進(jìn)口貨。

3. Abundant infrastructure Infrastructure is the key to balancing the rich and poor classes in a country.

3. 充足的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施 基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施是拉平一個(gè)國家貧富差距的關(guān)鍵。

For example, a country lacks electricity, which will seriously affect the quality of life of the middle and lower classes, but has no effect on the rich class (they can install generators).

比如，一個(gè)國家如果缺電，嚴(yán)重影響中低收入人群的生活質(zhì)量，但對(duì)富人影響不大（他們可以買發(fā)電機(jī)）。

For example, a country lacks good public transportation, which will affect the living standards of ordinary people, but not the rich (they have drivers and helicopters). Clean parks, streets, cheap hospitals, a large number of high-speed trains and airports and train stations with huge capacity.

又如，一個(gè)國家若缺乏良好的公共交通，會(huì)影響普通人的出行，卻不妨礙富人（他們有專職司機(jī)或直升機(jī)）。而干凈的公園、街道、廉價(jià)的醫(yī)院，以及大量高鐵、超大客流量的機(jī)場和車站，都能顯著提升整體生活品質(zhì)。

People with low incomes can also enjoy basic services, which offsets the difference in living standards between the poor and the rich.

低收入者也能享受這些基本公共服務(wù)，極大地縮小了貧富之間的生活差距。

For example: in Beijing, a poor person can spend $0.5 to take the subway to travel across the city in just 40 minutes. In a certain country, a poor person can only choose a taxi to do the same thing, which costs him $10 and takes 60 minutes.

舉例： 在北京，低收入者只需約0.5美元，就能在40分鐘內(nèi)坐地鐵穿越全城； 而在某些國家，同樣的行程只能打車，花費(fèi)10美元且需60分鐘。

This means that in this matter, the quality of life of the poor in China is 20 times that of the latter. Of course, this example is very extreme, but it reflects the impact of public facilities on the quality of life of ordinary people.

這意味著在此情境下，中國低收入者的出行質(zhì)量是對(duì)方的20倍。雖此例有些極端，但足以體現(xiàn)公共設(shè)施對(duì)普通人生活質(zhì)量的巨大影響。

These three factors are the key reasons for the deviation between GDP figures and actual living standards. The special thing about China is that these three conditions are met at the same time. This makes China's GDP figures deviate greatly from the living standards of ordinary people, and it may be the country with the largest deviation in the world.

以上三點(diǎn)，正是GDP數(shù)據(jù)與實(shí)際生活水平差距的核心原因。中國的特殊之處在于，這三項(xiàng)條件同時(shí)具備，導(dǎo)致中國GDP指標(biāo)與普通民眾的真實(shí)生活水平存在全球最大幅度的偏差。

From the average GDP, the living standards of Chinese people should be similar to those of countries such as Turkey, Mexico, and Malaysia. But if you actually visit China, you will find that the lives of ordinary people in China's major economic regions are actually very similar to those in South Korea, Japan, Spain, and New Zealand. Of course, there are some underdeveloped areas in the west of China, but these areas have a smaller population.

單看人均GDP，中國人的生活水平應(yīng)當(dāng)與土耳其、墨西哥、馬來西亞等國相近； 但若你真正來到中國，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)大部分經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)達(dá)地區(qū)的普通人生活，更接近韓國、日本、西班牙和新西蘭。 當(dāng)然，中國西部也有部分欠發(fā)達(dá)地區(qū)，但人口相對(duì)較少。

In addition, the living standards of Chinese people are far beyond the imagination of many Chinese who have never been there, and a big reason comes from "deliberate propaganda" Both the Chinese people and the Chinese government have an obvious tendency to "promote themselves as poor."

此外，許多從未到過中國的人根本想象不到中國人的生活水平之高，而這很大程度源于“一種刻意的宣傳”。 無論普通民眾，還是中國政府，都有明顯的“自我貶低貧窮”的傾向。

This tendency is not a deliberate political motivation, but a traditional habit in China. I have come into contact with many rich people in China, but 90% of them claim to be poor, and everyone tries not to show their wealth as much as possible.

這并非刻意的政治動(dòng)機(jī)，而是一種傳統(tǒng)習(xí)慣。 我接觸過不少中國富豪，其中90%都自稱“自己很窮”，并盡量低調(diào)不顯露財(cái)富。

The Chinese government is the same. Even in some news and documentaries that promote "national construction achievements", they always remember to mention: "Our achievements are insignificant, poverty and backwardness have not changed, and everyone must work harder."

中國政府也是如此。即使在宣傳“國家建設(shè)成就”的新聞或紀(jì)錄片中，也總要補(bǔ)一句：“我們的成就微不足道，貧窮與落后并未改變，廣大人民群眾還需更加努力。”

Even when the World Bank and the United Nations announced that China has entered the ranks of middle- and high-income countries, the Chinese government still repeatedly claims that it is a "developing country" in international diplomatic occasions and claims that it is a brother of all poor countries.

即便世界銀行和聯(lián)合國宣布中國已進(jìn)入中高收入國家行列，中國政府在國際場合仍反復(fù)強(qiáng)調(diào)自己是“發(fā)展中國家”，并稱自己是所有貧窮國家的兄弟。

In 2020, the Chinese Premier claimed that 600 million people in China have a monthly income of no more than $1,000. But he did not tell the media that this data includes all "non-working population", that is, Chinese students, children, elderly people and non-working housewives, whose number is between 500-600 million. This has become the most classic lie of the Chinese government to hide its wealth in the 21st century.

2020年，中國曾稱中國有6億人月收入不超過1000美元，卻未向媒體說明這其中包含了所有“非勞動(dòng)人口”，即學(xué)生、兒童、老年人和家庭主婦，人數(shù)介于5億至6億之間。 這已成為21世紀(jì)中國隱瞞國富民強(qiáng)最經(jīng)典的謊言。

I think the dual reasons of economics and politics constitute the huge deviation between the Chinese people's living standards and GDP data. Of course, I am not an economist or sociologist. I have visited China no more than ten times. My understanding of China is still very limited, and the conclusions I can draw may not be accurate. They only represent my observations and thoughts.

我認(rèn)為，這種經(jīng)濟(jì)因素與政治因素的雙重作用，造就了中國人生活水平與GDP數(shù)據(jù)間的巨大落差。 當(dāng)然，我并非經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家或社會(huì)學(xué)家，我對(duì)中國的了解也僅限于不到十次的訪問，我的結(jié)論或有偏頗，僅代表個(gè)人觀察與思考。

Sosow Nima Honestly, I don’t really understand it myself.

說實(shí)話，我自己也不太明白。

I once saw a video on YouTube by a Chinese guy who runs a Hardware Industry market in Argentina, sharing his local experiences. One episode really shocked me—he went shopping at a supermarket, and the prices were just outrageously high! Especially for light industrial goods like toilet paper, shampoo, and stuff like that. In China, these things are super cheap.

我曾在YouTube看到一個(gè)在阿根廷經(jīng)營五金市場的中國人拍的視頻，分享當(dāng)?shù)亟?jīng)驗(yàn)。其中一集令我大吃一驚——他去超市買日用品，價(jià)格簡直離譜！尤其是廁紙、洗發(fā)水等輕工品。在中國，這些東西便宜得令人難以置信。

What stuck with me was that he had this stunningly beautiful assistant. A woman like that, in China, would never work as a secretary for a small business owner like him…

讓我印象深刻的是，他還有一位驚為天人的美女助理。在中國，這樣的女子絕不會(huì)甘愿做小老板的秘書……

From this, I’d guess that Argentina’s economy, in reality, might not be as good as China’s.

由此，我猜測阿根廷的經(jīng)濟(jì)現(xiàn)實(shí)可能并不如中國。

Here’s a webpage about prices in Beijing. (You might notice that this webpage is very unattractive, which is a characteristic of China. Websites of government agencies or state-owned entities are generally quite poor. But they are trustworthy. For example, with hospitals, if a hospital’s website looks particularly outdated, with headlines like “Our Hospital Staff Study General Secretary ＊’s Speech” or “Our Hospital’s Third Batch of Medical Aid Team to Africa Departs in 2024,” rest assured, this is a technically proficient and reliable hospital. But if you encounter a site with all sorts of flashy, eye-dazzling effects, steer clear—this hospital might even be a scam.)

這是一個(gè)展示北京物價(jià)的網(wǎng)頁。 （你可能會(huì)注意到，這個(gè)網(wǎng)頁非常簡陋，這正是中國網(wǎng)站的一個(gè)特點(diǎn)。政府機(jī)關(guān)或國企的網(wǎng)站通常都做得很差勁，但數(shù)據(jù)可靠。比如，醫(yī)院網(wǎng)站如果看起來極其陳舊，標(biāo)題都是“我院職工學(xué)習(xí)＊＊＊講話”或“我院第三批醫(yī)療隊(duì)2024年出征非洲”之類，就說明這家醫(yī)院技術(shù)過硬、可信。但要是遇到那種各種花里胡哨的特效頁面，就要當(dāng)心，這種醫(yī)院可能是騙局。）

Let me check today’s prices. I’ll help you convert them—though, of course, I’d usually just let Deepseek handle this kind of work since I’m too lazy to calculate it manually. Note that I’m using the prices from the most expensive supermarkets. If I were buying groceries myself, I’d go to a farmers’ market, where prices can drop a lot—sometimes even by more than 50%.

我來查一下今天的價(jià)格。我會(huì)幫你換算——不過說實(shí)話，平時(shí)這種工作我都直接交給Deepseek處理，畢竟我懶得手動(dòng)計(jì)算。 需要注意的是，我這里采用的是最貴超市的售價(jià)。如果是我自己買菜的話，肯定會(huì)去農(nóng)貿(mào)市場，那里的價(jià)格能便宜很多——有時(shí)候甚至能砍下一半還不止。

Chinese Cabbage: 0.22 USD/kg Potato: 0.58 USD/kg Tomato: 1.14 USD/kg Cucumber: 0.84 USD/kg Onion: 0.52 USD/kg Carrot: 0.62 USD/kg Round Eggplant: 1.00 USD/kg Green Beans: 1.66 USD/kg Cabbage: 0.60 USD/kg Celery: 0.54 USD/kg White Radish: 0.36 USD/kg Radish: 0.66 USD/kg Green Pepper: 0.94 USD/kg Winter Melon: 0.64 USD/kg Fresh Beef: 10.38 USD/kg Fresh Lamb: 11.66 USD/kg Whole Chicken: 3.70 USD/kg Eggs: 1.40 USD/kg Duck: 3.06 USD/kg Ribbon Fish: 5.92 USD/kg Grass Carp: 3.30 USD/kg Lean Pork: 4.56 USD/kg

– 大白菜：0.22美元/公斤 – 土豆：0.58美元/公斤 – 西紅柿：1.14美元/公斤 – 黃瓜：0.84美元/公斤 – 洋蔥：0.52美元/公斤 – 胡蘿卜：0.62美元/公斤 – 圓茄子：1.00美元/公斤 – 四季豆：1.66美元/公斤 – 卷心菜：0.60美元/公斤 – 芹菜：0.54美元/公斤 – 白蘿卜：0.36美元/公斤 – 蘿卜：0.66美元/公斤 – 青椒：0.94美元/公斤 – 冬瓜：0.64美元/公斤 – 鮮牛肉：10.38美元/公斤 – 鮮羊肉：11.66美元/公斤 – 整雞：3.70美元/公斤 – 雞蛋：1.40美元/公斤 – 鴨肉：3.06美元/公斤 – 帶魚：5.92美元/公斤 – 草魚：3.30美元/公斤 – 瘦豬肉：4.56美元/公斤

Industrial products are the cheapest. Sometimes the prices are so low that even I find it hard to believe. For someone like me, who’s lived through tough times, it can feel strange to adjust to this. For example, when I buy tea, the seller usually throws in four cups and a stainless steel teapot for free. But I already have so many—I can’t keep piling them up, so I end up throwing them away. It feels like such a waste.

工業(yè)品更便宜，有時(shí)低得令人難以置信。 對(duì)于經(jīng)歷過艱苦歲月的人而言，適應(yīng)這種價(jià)格差異會(huì)感到很奇怪。 比如，我買茶時(shí)，賣家常常額外送四個(gè)茶杯和一個(gè)不銹鋼茶壺。 但我已經(jīng)有太多此類物件了，堆在家里根本放不下，只能扔掉，感覺太浪費(fèi)了。

Overall, I think China’s GDP might not be that high, but the cost of daily life isn’t expensive either. So, I feel like life here is probably better than in a lot of places with a nominally higher per capita GDP.

總體而言，我認(rèn)為中國的GDP名義上可能不算最高，但日常生活成本也不高。所以，我覺得中國人的生活很可能比那些人均GDP更高的地方要好。

Education and healthcare are decent too. If you’re really poor, the government has your back. Thanks to medical insurance, seeing a doctor isn’t a big deal either.

教育和醫(yī)療也相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)。如果你真的很窮，政府會(huì)提供保障。多虧醫(yī)保，看病也不是什么大問題。

The biggest hassle in China is housing, especially in big cities where prices are insanely high.

在中國，最大的問題是住房，尤其在大城市房價(jià)高得離譜。

But if you don’t buy and just rent, there’s really no pressure at all.

但如果不買房只租房，就幾乎沒有經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力。

Fz Lee Good question! I thought you had never been to China, or that you only visited the developed cities here and always stayed in expensive hotels that ordinary Chinese can’t afford. You might notice that, as a foreigner, you can’t stay in budget hotels; those that do accept foreigners generally have a higher standard if you look closely.

問得好！我還以為你從沒來過中國，或者只去過這里的發(fā)達(dá)城市，而且總是住在普通中國人根本負(fù)擔(dān)不起的高檔酒店。你可能注意到了，作為外國人，你沒法住廉價(jià)旅館——仔細(xì)看的話，那些真正接待外國人的廉價(jià)旅館，通常標(biāo)準(zhǔn)也會(huì)更高一些。

The Chinese government is keen to show the world that China is a modern, law-governed state.

中國政府熱衷向世界展示中國是一個(gè)現(xiàn)代化、法治化的國家。

Foreigners tend to believe this image because they actually enjoy certain privileges here. It’s like when a bike is stolen: if a foreigner calls the police, officers will check the CCTV and help recover the bike; but when a local calls, they often do nothing.

外國人往往相信這種形象，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)谥袊_實(shí)享有某些特權(quán)。就像自行車被盜：外國人報(bào)警時(shí)，警察會(huì)調(diào)取監(jiān)控幫忙找回；但當(dāng)?shù)厝藞?bào)警，往往得不到任何回應(yīng)。 If you want to learn more about this situation in China, search on Baidu for “上海風(fēng)控，外國人吃偉哥，陰莖持續(xù)充血，專家住址會(huì)診.” This refers to an incident during COVID-19 when many people were locked down at home for a long time—some even ran out of food—yet hospitals spared no effort to treat a single foreign patient’s prolonged erection. 如果你想深入了解中國的此類情況，可以在百度搜索“上海風(fēng)控，外國人吃偉哥，陰莖持續(xù)充血，專家住址會(huì)診”。這指的是疫情期間，許多人被長期封控在家，甚至有些人斷糧，但醫(yī)院卻不遺余力地救治了一名外國患者的持續(xù)勃起。

So it’s easy to conclude that as a foreigner you can live comfortably and peacefully in China. But that is not the whole truth. Half of Chinese people earn less than 1,000 yuan (about 139 USD) per month.

于是很容易得出結(jié)論：作為外國人在中國可以過得舒適安逸。但那并非全部事實(shí)：中國有一半的人月收入不足1000元（約139美元）。

Richard Kenneth Eng In this context, per capita GDP is much less important than per capita net worth, which in the case of China is quite high at $75,000. The Chinese people live very well.

在這種情況下，人均GDP的重要性遠(yuǎn)不如人均凈資產(chǎn)——中國的人均凈資產(chǎn)高達(dá)7.5萬美元，這個(gè)數(shù)字相當(dāng)可觀。中國人民的生活水平其實(shí)非常高。

Ironically, even though America’s per capita net worth is much, much higher than China’s, the American people do not live well. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck; they have great difficulty making ends meet and they have practically no savings.

具有諷刺意味的是，盡管美國人均凈資產(chǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于中國，但美國人并不富裕。大多數(shù)美國人拿到工資就花光，難以維持收支平衡，幾乎沒有積蓄。

Many, many Americans have to work multiple jobs just to keep their head above water. Many of them are in hock up to their eyeballs. The problem, of course, is that most of America’s wealth is concentrated in the top 10%, or even the top 1%. Yes, it’s that bad!

很多美國人不得不做多份工作才能維持生計(jì)，許多人都背負(fù)著巨額債務(wù)。 問題在于，美國的大部分財(cái)富集中在最富有的10%，甚至1%人手中。沒錯(cuò)，情況就是這么糟。

May Lewis The cost of living in China is distributed differently than in any other country.

中國的生活成本與其他任何國家都大不相同。

China uses industrial clusters to mass-produce almost all kinds of industrial products at the lowest cost in the world. The prices in the world’s factory are crazy cheap.

中國通過產(chǎn)業(yè)集群，以世界最低成本大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)幾乎所有工業(yè)品。這個(gè)“世界工廠”的物價(jià)低得離譜。

Two examples: some manufacturers make no money after combining the selling price and costs, and they only make advertising fees by stuffing advertising leaflets into your express packages. Some manufacturers use small packages to fill the gaps between other large packages instead of the original shock-absorbing foam, so the express fee you receive for the small package that has been transported thousands of miles is under 10 cents.

舉兩個(gè)例子：一些廠商的售價(jià)加成本都不賺錢，他們靠在快遞包裹里放廣告單賺廣告費(fèi)；還有的廠商用小包裹填充其它大包裹的空隙，代替原有的緩沖材料，因此運(yùn)送千里的小包裹快遞費(fèi)不到0.1美元。

As a result, the retail price of an all-metal compass like the one in the picture, including the box, pencil lead, and express delivery, is 27 cents.

因此，一套全金屬圓規(guī)（含盒子、鉛芯和快遞）零售價(jià)僅0.27美元。

A soft silicone phone case with a customized private picture costs 36 cents including shipping. After you send your personal picture to the merchant, it will be printed and delivered to your door in no more than 3 days.

一款帶私人定制圖片的軟硅膠手機(jī)殼（含運(yùn)費(fèi)）只要0.36美元。商家收到你提供的照片后，3天內(nèi)即可印制并送達(dá)。

Products like these are not of the highest quality, but they can be used normally. The price is exaggerated even for Chinese people who are used to cheap goods. In the US or Australia, the exact same product costs 20 times or more.

這樣的產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量雖談不上頂級(jí)，但日常使用綽綽有余。就連慣于廉價(jià)商品的中國人也覺得價(jià)格離譜。在美國或澳大利亞，同款產(chǎn)品售價(jià)要高出20倍以上。

Other prices: Public transportation is cheap, gasoline is expensive. Rent and property prices in big cities are very expensive, among the most expensive in the world. High-end electronics including iPhones and Sony cameras are expensive. Chicken and vegetables are cheap, but beef and milk are expensive. Public education is cheap, but after-school tutoring is expensive. Medical services are cheaper, and some medicines are more expensive. In short, as long as you don't buy an apartment in Beijing or Shanghai, the cost of living is relatively low. It may be related to PPP or exchange rate, but it is not as exaggerated as the industrial product prices mentioned above.

其他物價(jià)：公共交通便宜，汽油偏貴。大城市的租金和房價(jià)極高，躋身世界前列。高端電子產(chǎn)品如iPhone和索尼相機(jī)也很貴。雞肉和蔬菜便宜，但牛肉和牛奶貴。公立教育成本低，但課外輔導(dǎo)費(fèi)用高。醫(yī)療服務(wù)較便宜，但部分藥品貴?？傊?，只要不在北京或上海買房，生活成本相對(duì)較低。這或許與購買力平價(jià)或匯率有關(guān)，但都沒有上述工業(yè)品價(jià)格離譜。

In general, the living standards of Chinese people are close to but lower than those of Japan, South Korea, Spain, and Italy. Per capita GDP obviously underestimates the living conditions of Chinese people.

總體來看，中國人的生活水平接近但略低于日本、韓國、西班牙和意大利。人均GDP顯然低估了中國人的真實(shí)生活水平。