China spends US$29 billion on its pampered pets as birth rate slows
- Owners are buying gourmet meals and pricey toys for their fur kids
- Country has world’s largest pet population of 188 million
On a sunny mid-October afternoon, Leia spent her third birthday munching on a gourmet three-course meal of chicken, beef with salmon and a yogurt-based cake atop a rooftop restaurant in Beijing.
Leia is a German miniature pinscher and one of millions of pets in China whose every whim is indulged by their owners.
Rising pet ownership and spending in China is accelerating despite a broader trend of slowing retail sales growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Perhaps exacerbated by a growing trend of singlehood and childlessness, urban pet owners are on track to spend 202 billion yuan (US$28.6 billion) on their pets this year, 19 per cent more than 2018, according to a study by Goumin.com, a Chinese social network for pet owners.
China’s falling birth rate is matched by its mounting pet love. The Asian nation now has the world’s largest dog and cat population of 188 million, overtaking the United States in 2018, according to data compiled by Euromonitor International.