James Carney, a 27-year-old New Yorker, who’s been living in southern Chinese city Shenzhen for the past 16 months, says he’s feeling the pinch from rising living costs.
The American expat, who works for a local property developer, says the monthly utility bill for his small one-bedroom apartment has doubled in the last five months.
“Power, water, building management fees — everything you’d associate with renting an apartment has gone up big time — it’s been really noticeable in the last four to five months,” Carney told CNBC.
"Shenzhen cabs are the most expensive in China," he added. "To get in a taxi you’re going to go ten feet [and] it's $13 — if you’re using a private driver, that’s up as well."
While China’s major business centers, Shanghai and Beijing are known to be among the most expensive cities for expats in Asia, the cost of living in other, less well-known Chinese cities is now surging.
The southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou jumped a whopping 49 and 34 spots respectively to rank 55 and 56 globally this year when it comes to the most expensive places to live for expats, according to a recent survey from human resources consulting firm ECA International . That puts them ahead, in terms of cost of living, of global hubs such as London, which is ranked at 62 and Madrid, which is ranked 83.
Page 1 of 5 | Next Page
