A RECENT report found that China’s consumer market related to pets reached 170.8 billion yuan (US$24.9 billion) in 2018, an increase of 27 percent from a year earlier, according to the 2018 White Paper on China’s Pet Industry. The number of pet owners in China’s cities and towns now totals 73.55 million, the white paper says. Among them 33.9 million are dog owners, 22.58 million are cat owners, and there are also aquarium pet owners. It shows that 87.5 percent of dog owners were women, half of them had a bachelor’s degree or above, and the majority were employees in companies. The cat-owning group is mainly white-collar workers and students, with young people more inclined to have cats. Owners are now prepared to lavish money on pets, with the estimated annual spending 5,016 yuan for each animal in 2018, up 15 percent from the year previous. Data also showed that of the total spent on dogs, 36 percent went to food and 28 percent for services. On average, a cat owner spent 44 percent on food and 18 percent for services including medical care. (Global Times) |