As consumption becomes a dominant driving force of China's economic growth, the country's younger generations are becoming more troubled by over-expenditure.
Over-consumption is now a strain on Chinese society, where many youngsters are struggling to pay back money they borrow from banks, financial organisations and even small loan agencies.
Statistics from Rong 360, a Chinese provider of customised financing and loan services, showed 53 per cent of college students had used loan services for shopping – as expensive products, including Apple laptops, iPhones, Kindles and cosmetics were becoming "necessities" on campus.
However, without the ability to pay the money back, many college students have no other choice but to sit back and watch the interest creep up, the study said.
Among those who have used loans, 26-30-year-olds made up 26.6 per cent. Yuan Shanshan, a 26-year-old member of staff at a creative and cultural company, says her biggest wish is to clear her debt and start all over again.
There is no way back if you consume more than you can pay for, she says.
As loan thresholds keep lowering, more young consumers are lured into excessive consumption, with many online platforms setting up debt traps.
Statistics showed that in 2013, financing for China's internet consumption stood at 6 billion yuan (NZ$1.3 billion), while the figure grew to 4.4 trillion yuan (about NZ$950 billion) in 2017, with that figure over nine times that of 2016.
Data from the People's Bank of China suggests China's unpaid credit loans, overdue for more than half a year, has risen to a total of more than 88 billion yuan by the third quarter of 2018, up from 7.68 billion yuan at the end of 2010.
Another report on the outlook for pensions in China showed that among those under the age of 35, 56 per cent had not saved anything for retirement and 44 per cent had saved only an average of 1339 yuan each month (NZ$295).
Content sourced from the People's Daily Online here