How do you know if you've made it in life?

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A Bugatti Veyron on show at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, November 22, 2013.
Image caption,

The list of Chinese must-haves is a lot more expensive than it used to be

ByCelia Hatton
BBC News, Beijing

In the first few decades after China's communist revolution, most families aspired to own the "three circles and a speaker" - a radio, a bicycle, a wrist watch and a sewing machine.

Decades later, the list of Chinese must-haves is a lot more expensive. Chinese people are under pressure to buy their own apartment, a car, a smartphone, a DSLR camera and a laptop, for starters. Others strive for designer clothes and furniture too.

And all that brings stress.

According to a new Ipsos survey, external, most Chinese people - 71% - measure their success in life by the things they own. China topped the list, compared with 58% of people in India, which came second, and just 7% of people in Sweden. The global average hovered at 34%.

Another 68% of Chinese people admitted they were under pressure to make money and be successful, though just 56% expressed optimism when asked about their personal prospects for the year ahead.

We went out onto the streets of Beijing to ask passers-by how they defined success and what they thought of the survey results.

Figure caption,

Beijing passers-by react to the survey

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