Cats become top dogs in Chinese cities, usurping man's best friend

It is generally believed that in 2011, China became a majority urban population for the first time in its 5,000-year history. That is quite a tectonic demographic shift that continues to have a sweeping socioeconomic impact on public transport, affordable housing, education and supply chains nationwide. However, a mere decade later, an arguably even more substantial societal transformation took place－in 2021 cats outnumbered dogs for the first time.

Even if one attributes only one life to felines, which may or may not have nine, their ranks grew doggedly to become the most popular pet in cities nationwide last year, with just shy of 60 percent of urban pet owners raising cats, several mews louder than the 46 percent recorded the year prior. To Fido's credit, cat owners weren't merely being "speciesist", but in fact stricter urban canine ownership rules were the main reason behind the feline phenomenon.

Cats, dogs and other nonhuman house guests－in-laws notwithstanding－are big business in China. Revenue in the pet sector hit nearly $50 billion in 2020－sporting a compound growth rate of nearly a third between 2015 and 2020. If there was ever a sector which barked in the face of COVID-19, it's the pet sector, which came off the leash during the first full year of the pandemic, as self-quarantined folk looked to furry friends for solace and companionship.

And due to higher incomes and the growing popularity of pets, iResearch expects the market in China will be worth around $68.8 billion by the end of next year.

As things stand now, pet owners in China tend to be more well-heeled than average, as well as younger, learned, more often than not female, and usually married. Among Chinese pet owners, a third were born after 1990 and seven out of 10 have at least a Bachelor's degree.

With the pandemic forcing many to work and study at home, Spot and Fluffy's well-being has moved to center stage, and more time and money is put into the kitty for walks, feedings and groomings, all of which come at a price.