英语文摘:Sandwiched white-collar Chinese fret over soaring rents

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Wu Di, working as a secretary at a department at the elite Peking University, has to sacrifice privacy for lower rent.

She now shares one room of a two-bedroom apartment, furnished with two single beds, and splits the monthly rent of 1,500 yuan (224 U.S. dollars) with a female friend.

Wu moved to the new apartment two weeks ago. She used to share a two-bedroom apartment with a family of three, after she graduated from college in June 2010.

"I paid 1,250 yuan monthly. It was too much for me as I only earned 3,000 yuan a month," said Wu. "Besides, the family next door was very noisy."

Although the current rent relieved her financial difficulty a bit, she hoped to pay less.

"Nearly one-third of my salary goes to rent. I am always very careful about spending money," she said.

A survey done by the China Youth Daily Survey Center in December last year showed that 81.6 percent of 4,060 surveyed tenants around China thought that their rent had increased, and 80.6 percent said the soaring rent has greatly affected their lives.

More and more young, white-collar Chinese have found themselves in an embarrassing situation: they have to bear a heavy financial burden from soaring rent and housing prices while not qualifying to enjoy preferential policies the government offers to low-income people, such as low-rent apartments.

Lu Wei, a programmer working at a leading portable website, witnessed the housing rent increasing over the past four years.

"It would cost nearly 1,000 yuan less per month for a midium-decorated two-bedroom apartment in 2006," he said, now sharing a two-bedroom apartment with a friend near Beijing's downtown.

Liu Qingzhu, research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, argued that housing rent has taken up too much of young people's income.

"Spending one-third or even a half of their income in housing rent is too much. They need money to do many other things, such as purchase decent clothes, study and for entertainment," Liu said.

Also, rent is not the only thing troubling young tenants.

During his four-and-a-half-year stay in Beijing, Lu has moved into new apartment five times.