Consumer spending is increasingly driving China’s economic growth, and one unconventional barometer of China’s economy is how well a certain seasonal native delicacy is selling. Money Morning’s Keith Fitz-Gerald suggests investors take note of the unprecedented price commanded by hairy crab as a sign of booming domestic demand. See the following article from Money Morning for more on this.
While other investors are busy rounding up all sorts of economic data, tea leaves and fortune cookies in an attempt to figure out China’s economic situation next year, I’m heading out the door once again to take a look at hairy crab prices.
Because of the timing of this trip, I’m a bit late in the season – but not enough that I won’t be able to get a good reading on this surprisingly accurate indicator of China’s economic health.
The delicious little morsels come into season each fall, and are regarded as a delicacy – not to mention as an important indicator of this Asian giant’s wealth and prosperity. People flock to various restaurants to eat them. The tiny little guys are given as gifts to business partners, family members and others. Live hairy crabs are even being sold in vending machines in such big Chinese cities as Shanghai.
As consumerism continues to supplant exports as an engine of growth in China, market-watchers look high and low for the best gauges of the country’s outlook for growth. My two decades of work in Asia has steered me toward some surprising – and surprisingly accurate – economic indicators. Hairy crabs is one example (in fact, here at Money Morning, where writers and editors seem to come up with names for everything, this has been dubbed “The Hairy Crab Indicator”).
If you’ve never eaten a hairy crab, they’re certainly an acquired taste. Usually served steamed – with a splash of soy sauce – they can be oily, or even downright messy.
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Hairy crabs are usually smaller than the Dungeness crabs many Americans are more familiar with. These freshwater crustaceans start to fatten as soon as the autumn chill cools the Yangtze River Delta. That adds to their taste and desirability.
These crustaceans get their name from the clumps of fiber-like yellow hair that grow on their undersides, their legs and around their pinchers. Hairy crabs have been harvested in the Jiangsu province for hundreds of years, and have been a stomach-pleasing favorite for just about as long. From Jiangsu, the crabs are shipped to Shanghai and even Hong Kong.
When China’s feeling pinched, hairy crab sales drop and prices plummet. At the moment, they’re up 30% from last year to a staggering 680-700 yuan per kilo (roughly $105) or more – which suggests just the opposite. Record prices, to be sure, which point to prosperity.
In other words, what this says to me is that China’s domestic economy is on the move, that people are flush with cash to spend on such luxuries and that they’re anxious to impress.
This stands in stark contrast to the 80% drop in prices I reported in early 2009 – right before Chinese equity markets crumbled to levels not seen since the Asian Financial Crisis a decade ago, or during the SARS epidemic in 2003.
Obviously, hairy crabs aren’t a perfect indicator, given that there are a whole host of variables that can affect pricing. For example, a salesman in the the Nieji Yangchenghu Crab Store in Beijing’s Changping District told the Global Times that this year’s record prices probably reflect of combination of factors – including rising transportation costs and reduced crab output thanks to unusual weather and strong demand.
But I’ll take ’em nonetheless, because the demand is what makes the difference. And demand is an indication of the “New Consumerism” that continues to take hold here in Mainland China.
I wish you were here to join me. I’m heading over to Fang Liang Xieyan, which is the Beijing offshoot of an old Shanghai favorite. I’m hoping to score a few ounces and a crab banquet for between 380RMB to 1,680RMB – or roughly $56 to $250, depending on my order.
Fang Liang Xieyan, 16 Dong Sanhuan Bei Lu, Chaoyang District (tel. 6508 9022). Open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. Set meal 380RMB to 1,680RMB.
This article has been republished from Money Morning. You can also view this article at Money Morning, an investment news and analysis site.
