China's personal savings rose to a record 14 trillion yuan (US$1.7 trillion) at the end of last year, mainly because people put aside more money to pay for education, health care and housing, analysts said yesterday.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said on Sunday that savings reached 14.1 trillion yuan (US$1.74 trillion), or more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,200) per capita.

The figure was 12.6 trillion yuan (US$1.56 trillion) for 2004.

Yet, even as people get richer, they have become more cautious in their spending.

"People are forced to save for future expenditure," said Peng Longyun, a senior economist with the Asian Development Bank's Resident Mission in China.

According to an earlier report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, education, housing and medical costs have become the "three mountains" weighing on the shoulders of the Chinese people.

In addition, culture and tradition are also factors behind the high savings rate.

"Compared to Americans, Chinese people are more inclined to save their money in banks rather than spend it," said Qi Jingmei, a senior economist with the State Information Centre.

The lack of sophisticated wealth-management services and products also contributes to high savings.

"Wealth management in China is still in its infancy. Although people want to invest, they don't have many channels." Qi said.

She added that services provided by banks for common people are particularly limited, leaving them with no option but to save.

Public consumption contributed only 37.8 percent to China's gross domestic product in 2004, compared to 60 percent in the United States.

Critics have noted that China's economy relies too much on investment, which accounts for 48.1 percent of its GDP.

The government has already announced tax policies to redress the balance between investment and consumption, such as raising the threshold for personal income tax.

Yet the country is unlikely to see a big surge in consumer spending in the next few years, said Qi.

"Spending is individual behavior. I am afraid the high saving rate will last for 10 years," she said.

In the past decade, Chinese spent only 60 percent of their income, compared to nearly 80 percent worldwide, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

(China Daily January 17, 2006)