China’s Pet Economy Booms中国宠物经济蒸蒸日上

He Qi， an English teacher from Guangzhou city， divorced last month. He and his ex-wife split their properties quickly and amicably， but could not escape a big quarrel over their two dearest possessions—the pet dogs.

何其（音译）是广州市的一位英语教师，上个月离了婚。他与前妻迅速而友好地分割了财产，却不可避免地为两人最珍贵的拥有物——两只宠物狗——而大吵了一架。

“They are my children and I would be very sad no matter which one left me，” the 36-year-old said.

“它们是我的孩子，不管哪一个离开我，我都会非常难过。”36岁的他如是说。

In the end， they decided to take one each.

最终，他们决定一人带走一只。

“I think I will get another small dog or cat soon， I don’t want my ‘son’ to feel lonely， and I think my ex-wife will very likely feel the same way，” He said.

“我想我会很快再养一只小狗或小猫。我不想让我‘儿子’觉得孤单，估计我前妻肯定也这么想。”何其说。

A growing number of young Chinese are choosing to marry later， delay parenthood， or simply abandon both altogether， due to rising living costs and the demands of work life.

随着生活成本增加和工作压力加大，越来越多的中国年轻人选择迟婚晚育，或者干脆拒绝结婚生子。

At the same time， many of them are choosing to raise cats or dogs， creating a thriving pet economy.

与此同时，他们中的许多人开始选择养猫狗，这使得宠物经济蒸蒸日上。

The number of pet dogs and cats in urban areas exceeded 100.8 million in 2020， 1.7 per cent up on 2019 and 10.2 per cent higher than 2018， according to a 2021 whitepaper released by China Pet Industry Association.

依据中国宠物行业协会发布的一份2021年白皮书，城镇地区猫狗宠物的数量在2020年超过1.008亿只，比2019年增长1.7%，比2018年增长10.2%。

The number of pet owners reached 62.94 million in 2020—up from 62.8 million in 2019—while the value of China’s urban pet market was 298.8 billion yuan （US$46 billion）， growing from 72.5 billion yuan in 2015.

养宠人士总数从2019年的6280万增长到2020年的6294万，中国城镇宠物市场规模高达2988亿元（460亿美元），远高于2015年的725亿元。

The white paper forecast that China’s pet market would see a compound growth rate of 14.2 per cent over the next three years and be worth 445.6 billion yuan （US$70 billion） by 2023.

该白皮书预测，中国的宠物市场规模将在随后3年实现14.2%的复合增长率，并将在2023年达到4456亿元（700亿美元）。

China’s new breed of pet owners have several things in common： they are young， well-educated and earning a high income.

中国的新一代养宠人士具有几个共同特点：年轻、受过良好教育、高收入。

Nearly 90 per cent of them have a college degree or above， the white paper said. Some 46.7 per cent have a monthly income of 4，000—9，999 yuan （US$628—1，570） and 34.9 per cent earn at least 10，000 yuan each month. More than 46 per cent were born after 1990.

白皮书显示，近90%的养宠人士拥有大专及以上学历；约46.7%的人月收入介于4000元至9999元（约合628至1570美元）之间，34.9%的人月收入超过1万元；超过46%的人出生在1990年之后。

Just over half of those surveyed by the association had owned their pet for fewer than three years， highlighting the new-found fondness for animals among young Chinese.

宠物行业协会采访的人群中，逾半数养宠时间不到3年，说明对宠物的爱好是新近几年才在中国年轻人中流行起来的。

Jack Bian， the founder of Hangzhou-based Lang Xiao Zhua， which translates to Waves and Paws， a popular social media platform for pet lovers， said as more young Chinese opt to live with pets， it could “delay plans for giving birth”.

“浪小爪”是一个颇受欢迎的宠物爱好者社交平台，总部设在杭州。它的创始人杰克·卞（音译）表示，越来越多的中国年轻人选择养宠物，这可能“延迟他们的生育计划”。

“Young people in China are currently marrying and having children at a later age. The general consensus in their 20s and 30s is that stress and the cost of living is high， and working hours very long，” said Bian， whose organisation has more than 30，000 members.

卞说：“中国年轻人结婚和生育的年龄越来越晚。二三十岁的年轻人一致认为压力太大，生活成本太高，工作时间太长。”他的平台拥有3万多名会员。

A survey of 2，905 unwed urban residents aged 18—26 by the Communist Youth League in October last year found that 43.9 per cent of women had no intention of getting married or were unsure if it would happen. That was 19.3 percentage points higher than their male counterparts.

中国共青团去年10月采访了2905位年龄在18至26岁之间的未婚城镇居民。调查显示，43.9%的女性没有结婚的打算或不确定是否会结婚。该数字比持同样观点的男性数量高19.3%。

“Most of our 30，000 members are aged between 25—39， and 71.2 per cent of them are female，” Bian said， adding 60 per cent were unmarried or single， and 45.8 per cent of married members had no children.

卞说：“我们的3万名会员，年龄大多介于25岁至39岁之间，其中71.2%是女性。”他补充表示，其中60%未婚或单身，45.8%的已婚会员没有孩子。

“An interesting discovery during our trips is that our foreign clients regard pets as good friends， but most young Chinese pet owners like to treat them as ‘sons or daughters’，” he said. “My parents also call my two dogs grandchildren.”

“我们在组织携宠旅行时发现一个有趣的现象：我们的外国客户将宠物视为好朋友，但大多数养宠的中国年轻人都将宠物当作‘儿子或女儿’。”他说，“我父母也把我养的两条狗称作‘孙子’。”

Pets not only bring joy to their owners’ lives， but they do not come with high children-rearing costs， like education， Bian said. He expects membership at Waves and Paws to increase tenfold this year.

卞说，宠物不仅能给主人的生活带来乐趣，还不需要像养孩子那样花费高昂的教育成本。他预计今年“浪小爪”的会员数将增长10倍。

More specifically， the pressures of daily life in China have given rise to a cat economy， because Generation Z do not have the time or means to care for dogs， according to the white paper. In 2020， the number of pet cats exceeded pet dogs for the first time in China’s cities.

依据上述白皮书，更确切来说，中国日常生活的压力催生了“猫经济”，因为Z世代既无时间也没办法照料狗。2020年，中国城市的宠物猫数量首次超过宠物狗。