国外热议：中国的食物为什么这么便宜？

Kanthaswamy Balasubramaniam
Let's see from an Indian Perspective if Food is indeed affordable in China

我们从印度人的角度来看看中国的食物是否真的很便宜

Easy enough to claim things from a Dollar Perspective

仅从美元角度就轻松下结论了

Let's take a basic list of groceries

我们先拿一份基础的家庭杂货清单来算算

100 grams Butter - 17.80 Yuan
1 Loaf (19 slices) brown bread - 8.55 Yuan
368 grams chicken breast - 15.30 Yuan
3 * 430 grams Pork Cuts - 31.79 Yuan
12 Eggs - 8.78 Yuan
5 Kilograms Rice - 17.30 Yuan
250 ml Vinegar - 5.90 Yuan
250 ml Soy Sauce - 7.10 Yuan
886 grams (0.886 Kg) Boneless Chicken Cubes - 33.20 Yuan
1 Bowl Mutton Bowl Broth (500 ml) - 12 Yuan
750 ml Chicken Stock - 13.90
2.65 Kg Potatoes - 10.91 Yuan
1.68 Kilos Onions - 7.87 Yuan
300 grams Peeled Shrimp - 14.72 Yuan

100克黄油 —— 17.80元
1条（19片）全麦面包 —— 8.55元
368克鸡胸肉 —— 15.30元
3块×430克猪肉 —— 31.79元
12枚鸡蛋 —— 8.78元
5公斤大米 —— 17.30元
250毫升食醋 —— 5.90元
250毫升酱油 —— 7.10元
886克去骨鸡肉丁 —— 33.20元
1碗（500毫升）羊肉汤 —— 12元
750毫升鸡汤 —— 13.90元
2.65公斤土豆 —— 10.91元
1.68公斤洋葱 —— 7.87元
300克去壳虾仁 —— 14.72元

Total - 205.02 Yuan
(Prices include VAT)

合计 —— 205.02元
（含增值税）

So a basic Chinese grocery shopping list for the week costs a family of 3 People around 205 Yuan

所以，一个三口之家一周的基本杂货开销大约是205元

This family has two working parents who earn around 18,930 Yuan a month total income after taxes and social Security

这个家庭的双职工父母税后社保后月收入约合18,930元

Source : xiaohongshu / Red Note

来源：小红书

In Hangzhou they are typically Middle Class

在杭州，这算是典型的中产家庭

Butter is the only thing expensive because it's a Danish Brand

黄油比较贵，是丹麦品牌的缘故

The Supermarket is a Chinese Supermarket where things are 20% cheaper than Walmart or Carrefour

他们去的是国产超市，商品价格比沃尔玛、家乐福便宜约20%

So the family pays around 1000 Yuan for their monthly provisions which is close to 5.28% of their monthly salary

这样算下来，他们一个月的食品支出约1000元，相当于月收入的5.28%

Hangzhou is like Bengaluru

杭州就像印度的班加罗尔

Comparable SOLI income :-

可比生活水平收入：

18,930 RMB income in Hangzhou a month for a middle class family is equivalent to ₹ 1,14,333/- a month post tax for a middle class family in Bengaluru

杭州中产家庭月入1.893万元，税后可比为班加罗尔中产家庭月入114,333卢比

So Price of Monthly Groceries in Bengaluru based on Facebook averages around ₹11,500/- a month for a family of 4 persons

据Facebook数据，班加罗尔4口之家每月伙食费平均约11,500卢比

That's 10% of the Monthly Salary

约占月薪的10%

(Only Groceries not stuff like Branded Soaps, Branded Detergents etc)

（仅指食材，不含品牌洗护用品等）

I have excluded Mutton in India and Beef/Lobster in China as they are regarded PRIME MEAT

我已剔除印度的羊肉和中国的牛肉/龙虾，因为它们属高端肉类

So yes Food is cheaper in China than many countries

所以，整体而言，中国的食物比许多国家都便宜

Not everywhere

但也并非所有地方

You still have a 269 Yuan a head Buffet where they serve Shark Fin Soup and other luxuries

比如，也有269元/人的自助餐，供应鱼翅汤等奢侈品

Nonetheless on the whole Food is Cheap

尽管如此，整体来看食物仍然很便宜

Reasons

原因有三：

I. Subsidies on Essentials

一、必需品补贴

Prices of Rice, Soy Sauce, Eggs, Pork, Chicken, Oil are set by the Government of China (State) and the maximum spread between farmers price and retail price is CAPPED at 18%/20%/30%

大米、酱油、鸡蛋、猪肉、鸡肉、食用油等价格由国家定价，农户价与零售价差价最高被限定在18%/20%/30%

Trucks are CAPPED at 225 Yuan for a 500 Kilogram Load with such trucks getting FREE DIESEL (Upto 30 Litres a day) & interest free loans to buy

运载500公斤的卡车运输费封顶225元，还享有每天最高30升的免费柴油供应和购车无息贷款

II. Efficient Distribution

二、高效流通

Food is distributed perfectly

食物配送体系十分完善

If there is a surplus China has Silos to store the food for several weeks or months and ensure a minimum price floor

若产量过剩，中国有粮仓可囤储数周甚至数月，并确保最低价格底线

If there is a deficit, China has sufficient reserves to prevent a significant price jump

若短缺，中国也有充足储备防止价格大幅上涨


China has the capacity to store upto 170% of their annual wheat and 300% of their annual rice and 240% of their annual pork and chicken

中国的储备能力可达年产小麦的170%、稻米的300%、猪禽肉的240%

To this day no other nation can handle more than 40%

迄今为止，没有任何国家能做到超过40%

This helps keep prices stable and low

这有助于保持物价稳定且低廉

III. No Taxes whatsoever

三、零税负

Small Eateries don't pay taxes in China

小餐饮店在中国无需缴纳增值税

They pay local license fees

只需缴纳地方经营证照费

One time 8500 Yuan & Annually 5400 or 450 Yuan a month

一次性8500元，之后每年5400元或每月450元

No Bribes

无需行贿

No Premium

无额外附加费

Every year you have 60–200 New Licenses per district for push carts and eateries

每年每个区都有60–200个流动摊点及小吃店新执照发放

So investment is very low

因此开店投资非常低

The only deal is ENSURE YOU DON'T PROFITEER

唯一要求是——不得哄抬价格牟取暴利

As long as your annual revenue is less than 400,000 Yuan , you are IGNORED both in GDP & in everything else

只要年营业额低于40万元，就不会被纳入GDP统计，也不受其他监管

Premium Food

高端食材

Some foods are not included in Food Security and you pay full price

部分食材不受保障，需按市场价购买

For instance 300 grams Crab Meat of a King Crab costs 291 Yuan and 600 ml Olive Oil costs around 97 Yuan

例如300克帝王蟹肉要291元，600毫升橄榄油约97元

Exclusive Soochow Tea, Crab Meat, Lobster, Caviar, Steaks are all excluded in the subsidy list

苏州名茶、蟹肉、龙虾、鱼子酱、牛排等皆无补贴

There the reason for low prices is purely exchange rate advantage

这些食材便宜纯因汇率优势

Sosow Nima
China places great importance on its food supply.

中国非常重视粮食供应。

In recent years, the progress has been remarkable.

近年来取得了显著成就。

Per capita fruit and vegetable consumption in China is nearly double that of Japan and South Korea, and also significantly higher than in the UK, France, Germany, and the United States.

中国的人均果蔬消费几乎是日本和韩国的两倍，也明显高于英国、法国、德国和美国。

China’s per capita protein intake not only surpasses Japan and South Korea, but also exceeds that of the United States, France, and Germany (according to FAO data).

根据联合国粮农组织数据，中国的人均蛋白质摄入量不仅超过日本和韩国，也超过美国、法国和德国。

Behind this achievement lies the effort of the entire nation.

这一成就的背后，是全民族的共同努力。

For example, to address the problem of insufficient vegetable consumption, China launched the “shopping basket program” in 1988, which has now been running for 37 years.

例如，为解决蔬菜摄入不足问题，中国于1988年启动“菜篮子”工程，至今已实施37年。

I remember when I was a child, we only had pickled vegetables in winter.

我小时候记得，冬天只能吃咸菜。

Later, when I moved to Beijing, I found that people in the north would stockpile hundreds of kilograms of Chinese cabbage before winter, and cabbage was virtually the only vegetable available in the cold months.

后来我到北京，发现北方人冬天来临前要屯几百公斤大白菜，冬季几乎只有白菜可吃。

Nowadays, per capita consumption of fresh vegetables in China is among the highest in the world.

如今，中国的人均鲜菜消费已位居世界前列。

8 years ago, China released a documentary series titled China’s Mega Projects. While it covered some of the country’s most impressive infrastructure achievements, the very first episode was about “Food” — because, as the saying goes:

八年前，中国拍摄了纪录片系列《国家大工程》，虽然它展示了许多令人印象深刻的基础设施建设，但首集就讲“食物”——正如俗话所说：

“Food is the God of the people.”

“民以食为天。”

(English version available — highly recommended.)

（有英文版——强烈推荐。）

China’s Mega Projects: Energy.

《国家大工程：能源》。

This episode is also very interesting, because food and energy are the foundation of everything.

这一集也很有趣，因为食物与能源是一切的基础。

Michael Hills
I’ve been to Nanjing, and I had a GIGANTIC bowl of Lanzhou lamian for only $2.36.

我去过南京，只花2.36美元就吃到一碗超大份的兰州拉面。

It was the most delicious stuff I’ve ever had, and it was also pretty healthy. It’s my favorite food to this day actually. Street food and small restaurants are super cheap in China, and also give large amounts while using traditional ingredients and spices, and minimal preservatives.

那是我吃过最美味的面，而且非常健康。至今它仍是我最爱的食物。中国的路边摊和小馆子不仅便宜，还分量十足，使用传统食材和香料，几乎不用防腐剂。

Of course, not everything is cheap in China. American clothing brands, for example, are quite overpriced. My mother often buys brand names like Nike and Adidas in the U.S. and brings it to China to my family when we visit, as they are much cheaper to buy in America.

当然，中国并非所有东西都便宜。比如美国服装品牌在国内价格普遍偏高。每次回国我妈都要在美国买耐克、阿迪达斯等牌子的运动鞋和衣服，带回国送给家人，因为在美国买要便宜得多。

Themis Huang
I visit Okinawa Japan, Vancouver Canada and Seattle US in 2014, and I found high quality food were cheaper in these places than in Beijing China. Here are some examples:

我在2014年分别去过日本冲绳、加拿大温哥华和美国西雅图，发现这些地方的优质食物比北京还便宜。以下是一些例子：

1. Okinawa vs Beijing

1. 冲绳 vs 北京

My friend and I had a big set lunch of pork, rice, pickles, soup, vegetables for less than US$9 and well-cooked dinner of fish, vegetables, sausages and Japanese sake for about US$27 in Okinawa. And lunch and dinner like that cost 30% to 50% higher in Beijing.

在冲绳，我和朋友点了一份包括猪肉、米饭、泡菜、汤、蔬菜等的大套餐午餐，不到9美元；晚餐一份鱼、蔬菜、香肠和日本清酒约27美元。而在北京，类似的午餐和晚餐价格要高出30%–50%。

2. Vancouver vs Beijing

2. 温哥华 vs 北京

I bought beef, berries, Nutella, ice cream in Costco in Vancouver at about 50% of price in Beijing.

我在温哥华的Costco买牛肉、浆果、Nutella酱、冰淇淋，价格大约只有北京的一半。

P.S. The things that is really cheap in China are BOOKS!!! : )

附注：中国真正便宜的反而是书籍！！！

Michael Webb
There are many elements to this question that you are leaving out. First, demand is much higher for food in China than anywhere else because of the massive population. Second the majority of food that is consumed is generally democratized by processing, genetically altering, and artificially flavoring (like much of the "cheap" food in America). Cost of living varies from location to location depending on supply and demand. With that said, there are locations in China where food is cheaper than other locations. Beijing and Shanghai is well known for it's high prices whereas places like Neijiang and Zhengzhou are much cheaper to purchase food.

你在这个问题上遗漏了很多因素。首先，由于人口众多，中国的食物需求高于其他任何地方。其次，大部分食物都通过加工、转基因和人工调味实现了“平价化”（类似美国很多“便宜”食品）。生活成本因供需状况而异。在中国，也有物价更低的地区：北京、上海以高物价著称，而内江、郑州等地的食物则便宜得多。

Chuck Cumberbatch
A lot of food is relatively cheap in China due to lower taxes and lower production and distribution costs. That said, prepared food in some restaurants and outlets in cities like Beijing and Shanghai can cost pretty much exactly what it would cost in the UK.

中国的很多食物因税费低、生产与流通成本低而相对便宜。但也要说，像北京、上海一些餐厅和连锁店的熟食，价格完全可以跟英国持平。

It's also worth noting that a lot of imported food made by foreign brands costs significantly more in China than it would elsewhere. The coffee I buy is twice as expensive in China as it is in the UK.

另需注意，许多外国品牌的进口食品在中国售价显著高于其他地方。我买的咖啡在中国的价格是英国的两倍。

Star Lee

I don't think all people here have a chance to test MAN HAN QUAN xi 满汉全席.
我觉得不是所有人都有机会品尝满汉全席。

Street food is always cheap. sure cheaper than many developed countries. The reason is the low income people only can afford 10 yuan or.20 yuan lunch. Breakfirst is even cheaper is half USD can be fine. At this point the food price is like products made in China. Based on huge quantity make a little profit then enough for a life for the small business owner.

街头小吃永远便宜，当然比许多发达国家便宜。原因在于低收入人群只能买得起10–20元的午餐；早餐更便宜，花个半美元就够了。此时的食物价格就像中国产品一样，靠批量再薄利多销，就能维持小本经营者的生活。

The half USD breakfirst resturant earns like 30 to 50 thousand USD per year. Good for a family small.business who really work very hard.

卖半美元早餐的小店年收入可达3–5万美元。这对真正辛苦经营的家庭小生意来说相当不错。

Try at 5 star hotel it is not cheap at all. Breakfirst like 15–30 USD for each people.

但要是在五星级酒店，早餐一点都不便宜，人均要15–30美元。

Sea food is expensive also.

海鲜也比较贵。

Kevin Anderson
The cost of any good or goods, including food, is determined by many factors.

任何商品（包括食物）的成本由多种因素决定。

In the case of food, it will probably include the cost of production, the cost of transport and preparation and packaging/processing etc.

就食物而言，大概包括生产成本、运输成本、加工与包装成本等。

Same throughout all of human history where market forces apply. And if market forces don’t apply, then the costs are transferred to somewhere out of gaze!

在人类历史上也是如此——只要有市场机制，成本就体现在价格；如果没有市场机制，成本就会转嫁到看不到的地方。

With a high proportion of China’s population in non-urban areas, this means that there is typically an abundant population available for agricultural activities.

中国大量人口集中在非城市地区，也就意味着有充足人力从事农业生产。

These farmers, farm labourers, local wholesalers and processors will want to move the great bulk of their output to other markets, other than the local market.

这些农户、农工、本地批发商和加工商，会把大部分产出运往本地以外的市场。

There is - almost always - an equilibrium between the various inputs and the various prices that are paid along the various steps of the production and consumption chain, but in any event, the outcome is cost of food which keeps consumers reasonable happy and contended, and those that produce the food contended and happy.

在生产—流通—消费链的各环节投入与价格之间几乎总存在一种平衡，其结果就是：食物成本保持在能让消费者和生产者都较为满意、心情愉快的水平。

If the returns to the grower for producing the county’s earliest strawberries are insufficient, then attention might be diverted to other agricultural activities, eg. growing sweet corn.

如果种植早会上市的草莓收益不够高，种植者就可能转而种植甜玉米等其他作物。

Years ago, I was walking past a recently re-furbished store and the new signage “Fresh Produce from xinJiang” (of course written in Chinese) caught my eye.

多年前，我路过一家刚装修好的店铺，“新疆新鲜果蔬”几个大字（当然是中文）吸引了我。

I entered, perused the merchandise and left with, amongst other things, a packet of walnuts (in their shell, but the shell was half-cracked open, making it easy to extract the “nut” part of the walnut). These walnuts were the most delicious I had ever tasted, and the outer casing was easy to remove and discard. My thoughts then, as now: what an amazing example of walnut variety sextion, of low cost harvesting, and of roasting and “cracking open” the shell, all with a thin shell.

我进去浏览商品，最后买了一包核桃（连壳售卖，但壳已半剥开，方便取出果仁）。那是我吃过最美味的核桃，外壳又薄又好剥。那时我想，现在依然觉得：这真是核桃品种筛选、低成本采收、烘烤和“预裂”工艺的绝佳示例。

What a local would have thought of the cost, I don’t know. But for me, it was a delightful and memorable purchase and culinary experience.

当地人会如何看待这个价格我不清楚，但对我来说，这是一次愉快且难忘的购物与美食体验。

Costs of goods?: follow the supply chain.

商品成本？看供应链就明白了。

John Cee
Type “Chinese restaurant” into the Google search bar. It will pull up several dozen Chinese restaurants near you, and almost all of them will have one dollar sign ($), meaning they are cheap.

在谷歌搜索栏输入“Chinese restaurant”（中餐馆），会出现几十家附近的中餐馆，几乎全都是一个美元符号“$”，说明很便宜。

Type “Japanese restaurant” instead into the Google search bar, and almost all of them will have two dollar signs ($$).

”（日本餐馆），几乎全都是两个美元符号“).改搜“Japaneserestaurant”（日本餐馆），几乎全都是两个美元符号“”。

Type “French restaurant” into the Google search bar, and they will either have two () or three dollar signs ($$$).

再搜“French restaurant”（法式餐馆），要么是“”，要么是“$$$”。

So there’s your answer. Why is Chinese food regarded as cheap? Because in fact, the vast majority of Chinese restaurants serve cheap food. It’s not because of some prejudice or ignorance.

答案就在这里：中餐为何被认为便宜？因为绝大多数中餐馆都卖“便宜货”，这不是偏见或无知。