Chinanews, Shanghai, Dec. 1 - Shanghai and Taipei are two economically prosperous cities across the straits. How will the people in these two cities view the prospects¹ of economy, and in what way will they manage their money differently? Recently, media groups from the two cities jointly² conducted a survey investigating people’s different attitudes towards their money.

The survey shows that Shanghai people, who benefit from the high economic growth occurring in the mainland, are optimistic about their economic prospects. A large number of people in Shanghai are enthusiastic about earning money and managing their fortune. In Taiwan, however, people are not as enthusiastic about the future as people in Shanghai. Rather, Taiwanese cherish a high-quality life style, hoping they can accumulate money in a steady way.

The WinMoney Weekly, a magazine on money management in Shanghai, and Taiwan’s Smart monthly magazine, randomly³ interviewed more than 2,000 residents in Shanghai and Taiwan over the phone, and then analyzed⁴ people’s different attitudes and behaviors concerning making money, and their different financial conditions.

The survey shows that 58% of people in Shanghai are optimistic about the economy in the next year, while 51.9% of Taiwanese think just the opposite. The difference can help explain people’s different attitudes towards their money. While most Shanghainese are eager to make money in order to live a better life, they also worry about the rising consumption costs and the underdeveloped social security system. On the contrary, most Taiwanese have experienced the high economic growth once occurring in Taiwan, and they don’t have much economic pressure. Besides, many Taiwanese haven't gained much in their fortune collection over the past few years, therefore they don’t have that strong desire for making money as people in Shanghai.

Although people in the two cities both attempt to make money by working, making investment or opening their own businesses, 90% of the people in Shanghai like to put their money in the securities market to buy shares, funds or futures⁵ products, so that more money can be made in a relatively⁶ short time. Shanghai people sometimes feel anxious about their money. On the contrary, 50% of Taiwan people do not seek for wealth so eagerly, thinking that everything is good as long as they can have a stable job with a steady income.