Consumer confidence robust

SHANGHAI: Chinese consumers appear more optimistic amid financial woes than their Western peers due to active bank lending and the recent stock rebound, said David Parma, global president of consumer research at Nielsen, a global information and media company.

"There's big optimism here in the country. We've seen that the banks are still lending, and the mainland stock market has been performing well recently. And there are also indications of the focus moving from exports to domestic consumption. These factors in general generate more optimism," Parma told China Daily.

He noted that China's savings rate, which is much higher than that in the United States and Europe, makes consumers better able to cope with economic difficulties.