会合，会う the Ma family: How millennials are changing the way 中国 thinks about money
By Engen Tham and Adam Jourdan
SHANGHAI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Ma Yiqing, 24, is typical of 中国's younger 世代 - he uses his credit card frequently and borrows from online 壇・綱領・公約s to 基金 his shopping habits. In a pinch, he is happy to 落ちる 支援する on a 貸す人 closer to home - his mum and dad.
Interviews with Ma, a 選び出す／独身-child, his mother and grandmother, show how 速く 態度s に向かって credit are changing as the millennials 世代 - 概略で those 老年の between 18 and 35 - embraces 負債 like never before.
The frugal 態度 of previous 世代s produced the bedrock of 中国's credit worthiness - 世帯 貯金 equal to some 50 パーセント of GDP, one of the highest levels globally.
Ma and his cohorts are changing that equation. Their 乗り気 to borrow has driven up 世帯 lending - the fastest growing area of 中国's 負債. They are の中で the most indebted of their peers in Asia, taking on 負債 18.5 times their income, 意味ありげに higher than their parents' 世代, a 報告（する）／憶測 from 保険会社 Manulife shows.
While their spending and borrowing is an 適切な時期 for 貸す人s, brands and 経済成長, it is also a 危険 as they 追加する to 中国's 急速な／放蕩な-growing 負債.
権利 now, Ma has a safety 逮捕する - 井戸／弁護士席-heeled and doting parents who can 選ぶ up the tab. He lives in a one-bed flat in Lhasa, the 資本／首都 of 中国's Tibet 地域. His parents are in nearby Shannan.
"I'll 一般に turn to mum and dad. They've always been able to help me financially," said Ma. In May, he asked his parents for 財政上の support to open a restaurant. "I just need to ask and they'll give me (money)."
CLEAR GAP
Parents 支払う／賃金ing off the credit card 法案s of their millennial children is not unusual in 中国, but it could have ramifications, said Rui Yao, an associate professor in personal 財政／金融 at the University of Missouri.
"They don't see the consequences of not 支払う／賃金ing. The thinking is 'my mom has it covered'", she said. "They're not 用意が出来ている for an 経済的な 下降 for sure."
The next 世代s may not be so lucky either. They will have to support longer-living parents and 潜在的に more children as 中国 relaxes its one-child 政策. 中国's ageing 全住民 is already 縮むing, which means greater 財政上の 圧力 on those working to support those who are not.
Ma says he is more frugal than his friends. He uses his bank card and Ant Check Later, a popular online lending 壇・綱領・公約 owned by tech 巨大（な） Alibaba Group 持つ／拘留するing Ltd.
This is a far cry from his parents' 世代. Ma's mother, who is 49, only started using a credit card three years ago.
"They couldn't spend on overdraft, so they really didn't squander any money," he said.
The gap is （疑いを）晴らす: 消費者 credit is up nearly 300 パーセント over the last six years alone, hitting around 23.5 一兆 yuan ($3.41 一兆) in October.
This is 始める，決める to more than 二塁打 ov er the next five years to nearly 53 一兆 yuan, によれば consultancy Mintel.
While mortgages are the lion's 株 of 世帯 負債, credit card and 消費者 貸付金s have 発射 up from just 4.6 パーセント of 世帯 負債 in 2015 to 16 パーセント now, BMI 研究 shows.
"The young 世代 today has a 全く different 態度 to my 世代," said Ma's grandmother, Wei Chunyin, 76. She grew up in the 1960s and said she was in 負債 just once - for 100 yuan, the 同等（の） today of $14.50.
"We were very economical and hardworking," she said. "着せる／賦与するing was just to wear, and we wouldn't even really eat 軽食s, just food from our 部隊," she said, referring to her workplace.
GROWING FORCE
Ma's 世代 is the first in 中国's modern history to be raised in 親族 繁栄 and social 安定.
They are better educated and already more 豊富な than their 年上のs. Boston 協議するing Group and AliResearch said they are 推定する／予想するd to 運動 65 パーセント of 消費 growth until 2020, when they will （不足などを）補う around 53 パーセント of total 消費 spending, up from 45 パーセント now.
"Understanding their mindset is 批判的な and anybody ignores them at their 危険，危なくする," Yum 中国 Holdings Inc 長，率いる Micky Pant said in an interview.
Their 可能性のある has not been lost on the banks, with some 特に 的ing them for 貸付金s.
"Internally our 評価s are skewed に向かって the young 消費者 groups. For example, 前線-line sales staff get a 特別手当 1.3 times the normal level if they 調印する a young 顧客," said a 銀行業者 in the credit card department of 中国 Merchants Bank, a 主要な credit card provider.
"So everyone is out looking for youngster to 調印する up."
When asked about the 戦略, CMB said it has many credit card 製品s that are welcomed by young people.
銀行業者s said 貸す人s often know millennials have doting parents to 落ちる 支援する on in a pinch.
"Taking a darker read on it, the parents of the 地位，任命する-90s 世代 - who were born in the 60s or 70s - 港／避難所't yet retired, and are financially pretty 安全な・保証する," said a 負債 collector in the credit card department of a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d city bank.
Like other parents in 中国, Ma's mother and father, a nurse and 政府 officer at the 地元の 気象の 行政 それぞれ, are 辞職するd to supporting their son financially for now - even if he defaults.
Ma's mother, Zhen Yinchun, said that when she was young she saved around one-third of her income because there was little to spend it on, in contrast to her son.
It is a running joke in the family whether Ma will return any money he has borrowed, she said.
"I'll say it's a 貸付金 and he'll agree. But up to now he's never paid anything 支援する," she said.
(報告（する）／憶測ing by Adam Jourdan and Engen Tham; Editing by Neil Fullick)
