Declining tractor sales, weak vehicle sales and a slowdown in migrant worker remittances dragged the China Confidential Rural Wealth Index down 1.4pp in July

A growing legion of increasingly sophisticated consumers in China's booming county cities and townships looks set to drive Chinese consumption growth in the coming years, according to China Confidential's survey of 386 residents in 11 counties across the country.

Our survey of 386 county and township consumers reveals the increasing sophistication of China’s county-level consumers, whose spending habits and shopping choices increasingly resemble those of their counterparts in larger cities.

A string of ambitious commercial developments in county cities and towns across China is transforming consumer behavior at the intersection of city and countryside

Like many Chinese towns, Zhangjiawa, a small town in the eastern province of Shandong, is divided into two parts.

Shops and apartments are springing up across Yongxing, Hunan province, to serve a growing urban population

The advent of the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed railway has seen an influx of retailers, developers and speculators into Tongxiang, an already-wealthy textile-manufacturing base.

Strong growth of its downstream distribution business should enable Qingdao Haier to consolidate its leadership of China’s white-goods market