a report recently released by the economist intelligence unit (eiu) ranked shenzhen in the top 60 cities worldwide for cost of living, according to chinanews.com.
the worldwide cost of living report is a twice yearly survey conducted by the eiu. it compares more than 400 prices across 160 products and services. these include food, clothing, household supplies, rent, transportation and recreational costs. housing prices are not included.
according to the report, shanghai became the most expensive city on the chinese mainland to live in and ranked 11th on the global list of cities with high cost of living. the cost of living on the chinese mainland went up last year despite the depreciation of the rmb, while shenzhen's ranking moved up 12 places last year.
"rent costs me nearly 35 percent of my earnings each month," said chen, a young employee at a shenzhen-based it company.
chen had considered renting another flat located in a suburban area, but it would take him nearly two hours to reach work.
a report released by 58.com last year showed that a huge number of fresh graduates in china spend one-third of their salaries on rent, and those living in first-tier cities have to pay almost half of their monthly income to landlords.
the growing living costs have slowed down the growth of big cities in recent years. official data showed that the immigrant population in beijing climbed by 0.5 percent last year, with the growth rate being lower than the local population's growth rate for the first time.
statistics also showed that nearly 150,000 immigrants left shanghai last year, which was the first time that the city's population saw a decline in the past 30 years.
the business environment in second and third-tier cities is improving. data from the ministry of agriculture revealed that the government's incentive policies have helped farmers who decided to return to their hometowns. they started 237,000 small-sized companies, 455,000 farm product processing enterprises and 1.8 million agricultural businesses nationwide as of january.
despite the high living cost, many young people like chen would like to stay in big cities for the developed industry, higher salaries and greater opportunities, according to the report.
