Who will become the middle class in 10 years?
China's middle class may be booming, but a majority of respondents to a  recent survey said they do not feel so wealthy. 
Only 12.7 percent of a poll conducted by China Youth Daily and Sina.com 
said they think they are living a middle-class life. 
The poll, entitled "Who will become the middle class in 10 years?" found 
that about 83 percent of the 7,313 people interviewed think a typical  
middle class Chinese needs to have a good and steady income, a house and a 
car. 
Nearly 70 percent think the middle class needs higher education and good 
manners. About 60 percent think a decent profession is a crucial feature  
that defines the middle class.
The survey follows a similar study released earlier this month by HSBC,  
Fudan University and MasterCard Worldwide.
That survey, which interviewed 1,736 people in Beijing, Shanghai and  
Guangzhou from February to May, researched spending patterns of the 
country's increasingly affluent middle class. 
It found that the number of middle-class consumers in the country is 
expected to increase to100 million in the 10 years from 35 million in 2006. 
A Chinese middle class is defined by the survey as someone whose annual 
income ranges from $7,500 to $25,000 and who is between 20 to 49 years of  
age.
However, the latest survey found that only 2.2 percent of respondents agree  
with that definition.
More than 30 percent of those surveyed chose investment and finance as the  
best paths to becoming middle class.
Nearly 20 percent think a good collection of social networks and resources  
will make people richer and 15 percent believe in diligence at work.
The speed at which people join the middle class varies between professions. 
The survey found Chinese think those in the science and technology and IT 
industries are the quickest to get rich, followed by those in the banking,  
finance and investment industries.