A recent survey on financial management among Chinese young people born in the 90s and 00s was conducted by Tencent-owned survey platform, T-ask. The survey showed that there is a growing awareness amongst this demographic of the importance of financial literacy. The survey (n=3,193) results showed that over 80% of the participants either already have or are prepared to personally manage their finances. Meanwhile, only 14.5% did not have any experience in personal financial management with no plans to do so in the near-future. Growing up with social media, around 89% of the respondents chose digital products such as Tencent wealth management (腾讯理财通) as their personal financial management platforms.
Empowering financial literacy: Hangzhou’s first wealth management-themed fair
In one of the most vibrant regions of China, Zhejiang province, where China’s tech and finance giant Alibaba is located, the first wealth management-themed fair was held in Hangzhou on the 5.15 National Investor Protection Publicity Day (515全国投资者保护宣传日). During the financial management fair, people got to understand basic concepts and traps to avoid when managing personal finances and investing through the fair’s variety of games, exhibitions, check-in stamps and photo opportunities. Many young people who attended the event shared their thoughts on their methods for managing personal finances on screen, which stirred the conversation on Chinese social media platform Weibo in terms of #What kind of unbelievable methods do young people use to manage finances# (年轻人理财有哪些匪夷所思的操作), viewed over 10 million times in two days by enthused netizens.
Young people shared their unconventional approaches in wealth management
One of the participants appeared to be the “thigh-hugging (抱大腿型)” type. It refers to those who follow the methods of someone who is more knowledgeable to achieve better results. “I don’t know much about financial management, but I have a friend who likes to study this, so I buy whatever he buys.” Another participant, on the other hand, represented the “metaphysics (玄学型)” type, expressing his preference for deciding which stock to buy by flipping coins or drawing lots. “I am a finance management newbie. So, I really need this kind of financial knowledge that can be easily understood.” Said a netizen from Shandong who shared her liking of this kind of event.
Source: Weibo, Chinese netizens’ shared their thoughts towards the unconventional wealth management methods
The rise in financial literacy among young people and their approaches
- A survey conducted by Tencent highlighted the increasing awareness of financial literacy among Chinese young people born in the 90s and 00s.
- Over 80% of respondents are actively managing or willing to manage their finances, emphasizing the growing importance of financial management.
- Young participants shared their personal finance management methods during the fair. Some followed the “thigh-hugging” approach, relying on more knowledgeable individuals for investment decisions. Meanwhile, others embraced “metaphysics” by using unconventional methods like flipping coins.
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