Like their counterparts in Europe and the United States, most of the middle class in China are in favor of purchasing houses and many wish to have a large house in the suburban areas. One-third of these people earn a monthly salary above 10,000 yuan.

How is Chinese middle class life like and what do they dream in future? A recent survey conducted by Internet giant Yahoo! might answer some of these questions.

The online survey questioned some medium and high income earners living in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It covered a wide range of topics related with cars, houses, mobile phones, travel, health and fitness, leisure, working and consumption.

About 110,000 people participated in the survey and more than 300,000 answer sheets were returned. Most people that answered the survey were aged 22-50 with a college educational experience. About 53 percent of people in the survey earned a monthly salary above 2,000 yuan.

The survey showed that on the whole, Chinese middle class people have received education in college and obtained expertise knowledge in specific fields.

In regards to cars, 80 percent of those who do not own a car at present hope to buy one in the future and 20 percent of car owners wish to change for a better car.

The survey also showed that 49 percent of the middle class live in "apartment houses" currently and 44 percent of them dream to move in to "luxury flats" within the next five years. Meanwhile, 30 percent of people choose to live in "townhouse" near suburban areas or "cottages" locating far from the city. The relative proportion for people with a monthly salary over 5,000 yuan has risen to 43 percent in this sector.

The survey predicted that in the next five years, about 200-350 million people will become new middle class members in China. These people will become the main stream of the affluent people in China and are the backbone force in the Chinese society.

Source: chinanews.cn