More sensitive, less impulsive

It seems that, inherently, women have a better ability to manage money than men. Women are more sensitive, and always pay close attention to detail, which puts women in a very strong position when it comes to personal finance, said Wang Jian, financial advisor from the Liaoning Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

For this reason, financial institutions have created a lot of financial service products that center around the female-oriented gaps in the market. Many financial advisers have now noticed that female clients have become their fastest growing customer demographic in the family financial products segment.

"The role of women in financing is such a huge potential market," said Wang. "Chinese women commonly play the role of home administrators, handing out money for utilities, rent, credit cards, school and medical fees and so on. They know what's coming in, and what's going out. Also, they contribute significantly to the banks' profits."

A financial manager from the Jinan Branch of China Merchants Bank, who would only give her surname, Liu, said that most of her clients are women in their mid-30s, with 500,000 yuan ($78,247) or more in assets. Male customers are often too busy with work and have very little interest in a few hundred dollars of profit per month.

The majority of Chinese women take sole or primary responsibility for their families' financial decisions, but the HSBC Life survey showed that about 96 percent of female respondents said that they have a basic to moderate level of experience in financial planning.  Only 4 percent claim expertise in this field.

Liu agreed. "Female customers usually go to a financial manager, who helps them configure tailor-made financial product packages, but they won't further develop financial planning knowledge of their own." She added that the trust for a certain financial manager might be the incentive a woman needs to invest in a particular product or organization.

However, women are more reluctant than men to follow higher risk investment strategies, such as buying stocks, hedge funds, and private equity. In terms of investment, nearly half of all Chinese women prefer to adopt conservative strategies, stated the survey.

Chen Xiaomi, 29, is an engineer living in Beijing. The earnings of Chen and her husband, a middle-level manager at a foreign enterprise, totals 300,000 yuan ($47,319) a year. Despite their high-income level, Chen believes that depositing her money into the family's savings account is the most secure and efficient way to manage her finances. "This is the only method I resort to," she told ChinAfrica.

Lao Jianrong, CEO of HSBC Life, said that while Chinese families were eager to enhance their own monetary assets in keeping with the country's economic development, it was necessary to consider the risks that these investments entail.

Meanwhile, he also added that Chinese families should explore new ways to grow and manage their finances and increase their levels of financial sophistication. The challenge for Chinese families is to be able to manage a household income and build financial assets for the long term, while protecting against financial risks.

Complementary roles

Another survey of the social status of women, conducted in Shandong Province among 3, 000 people in 2010, showed that men and women complement each other and have equal rights at home. A majority of respondents selected "mutual consultation" when it comes to family financial planning.

The survey indicates that men and women are taking equal roles in decision-making around large family expenditures, such as buying financial services and property investment. However, daily household finances still largely remain the responsibility of women, according to Bi Weijue, Associate Professor with the Institute of Sociology of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences. "This is closely related to [local] level of economic development and cultural tradition," said Bi.

In China, the role of women still varies by location and social status. Judging by the survey's result, Wang Yiping, Researcher at the Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, said that most married couples in cities, which are both financially independent, have the equal say in how the family's money is spent.  In the rural areas of Shandong, men are still playing important roles in household financing.