“Every year, there was barely any money left. I felt insecure and directionless,” shares Xiao Zhuo, a 36-year-old mother of two from Xiamen, in southeast China.
During the pandemic, Xiao Zhuo and her husband faced a 50% cut in their salaries—a severe blow to the family, which also had the responsibility of caring for Xiao’s mother, who was diagnosed with cancer five years ago.
It has become a trend among young Chinese to seek “da zi” online, which means “partners” with similar interests. But instead of looking for companions to travel or exercise with, Xiao Zhuo sought someone interested in saving money together.
Xiao Zhuo was not alone. The hashtag “saving da zi” first appeared on Xiaohongshu, China’s equivalent of Instagram, in February 2023 and has since garnered 1.7 million views, according to data analytics firm Newsrank.
On the Weibo platform, related topics have been viewed millions of times. While it’s difficult to obtain exact numbers, social media shows that thousands of people have found saving partners through online groups.
Most participants in these groups are women aged between 20 and 40, many of whom are mothers.
Some aim to save for their children’s education, which is becoming increasingly expensive; others prefer to save money because investments like stocks or properties yield few returns.
However, many express the need to prepare for potential job losses or salary cuts as the economy struggles.
China already has one of the world’s highest household savings rates, and the recent increase reflects “low confidence in the future economy,” according to Lu Xi, a public policy professor at the National University of Singapore.
In 2023, Chinese households saved approximately 138 trillion yuan (US$19.1 trillion, R$96 trillion) in bank deposits, nearly 14% more than the previous year, according to official data.
Despite years of strict “zero-COVID” policies, China’s economic recovery was brief and now faces a property crisis, deflationary pressures, declining foreign investments, and mounting local government debt.
In China, women typically manage daily household expenses. The fact that more women are saving indicates a spread of unemployment—not just among young people, says the professor.
The unemployment rate has risen for three consecutive months, according to the latest official data.
The growing desire to save will make it harder for China to rebalance its economy. The rapid growth of recent decades was driven by infrastructure investments and low-cost manufacturing. However, as China’s economy matures, experts argue that domestic consumption needs to be encouraged to sustain growth.
Lu Xi warns that high savings rates could lead China into a liquidity trap, mirroring what happened in Japan in the 1990s.
People may choose to save and avoid spending or investing, even with very low interest rates, rendering monetary policy ineffective in boosting the economy.
Xiao Zhuo considers herself fortunate to work in the clean energy sector, a growing industry that reportedly contributed 40% to the country’s economic growth last year.
Nevertheless, she feels compelled to “prepare for the worst,” as she has witnessed many relatives and friends lose their jobs, including those in public service, such as hospitals and schools.
In February, Xiao Zhuo joined several saving groups. Members are required to log their budgets and expenses daily. They also help each other avoid impulse purchases.
One group participant felt tempted to buy a luxury handbag costing 5,000 yuan. After discussing with other women, she chose to purchase a second-hand bag for less than 1,000 yuan.
Xiao Zhuo has also learned some money-saving tricks. For example, she discovered a mobile app featuring a heart-shaped spreadsheet with 365 cells indicating a daily savings goal ranging from 1 to 183 yuan. By the end of a year, she will have saved nearly 34,000 yuan (approximately R$24,000).
She is surprised to see so many others interested in saving and feels she has developed a partnership with her saving friends.
“It would be hard for me to persist on my own.”
Xiao Zhuo has developed a special friendship with one of her saving partners, a teacher pregnant with her first child. After reaching her monthly savings goal, Xiao Zhuo ordered roses online to be delivered 2,000 kilometers away in Gansu.
Xiao Zhuo’s impulse buying has significantly decreased. Previously, she would place anything she liked in her shopping cart, but now she creates a shopping list and sticks to it.
A month after finding her saving partners, she managed to reduce her expenses by 40% and is optimistic about saving 100,000 yuan (R$70,000) in a year—a considerable increase from her current goal.
Other women also claim that having saving partners has helped them cut costs. One mentions she now cooks more at home and has eliminated unnecessary purchases; another says she saved more by staying busy with work and plans to explore new hobbies that don’t require large expenses.
Cash Savings
Some women have opted for a more traditional saving method—keeping money at home.
This is still uncommon, as China has become a country where cash usage is increasingly rare. Nearly 70% of the population opts for mobile payments, according to Statista.
“I feel safe and satisfied seeing the stacks of bills grow thicker,” says Chen, a 32-year-old beauty salon owner in Henan province.
Every month, she withdraws most of her income from the bank and stores the money in a box. Once it reaches 50,000 yuan, she makes a deposit.
Currently, she also chooses to use cash for her purchases. Although inconvenient, she sees this practice as a way to reduce consumption and “delay gratification.”
Amid the economic crisis, Chen has lost a significant number of clients, and those who remain have reduced their spending.
She and her husband are only children, meaning they have the responsibility of caring for four elderly parents. Chen wants to save at least 1 million yuan for each of her two children. In Chinese culture, men are expected to own a house before getting married, making it common for parents to buy homes for their sons.
She mentions that her family needs to save at least 5 million yuan—a sum that likely won’t be enough, especially now that she is pregnant again.
“In the past, I had no savings plan but still managed to save some money. Now, saving has become a bigger challenge. Having cash in hand makes me feel less anxious.”
