China commentary blames U.S. consumers for crisis

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese state media on Sunday lambasted feckless U.S. consumers addicted to spending money they don't have for being partly to blame for the current financial crisis, suggesting such a thing couldn't happen in prudent China.

The official Xinhua news agency said in an opinion piece datelined from New York that Americans love spending "tomorrow's money" on credit, preferring to "eat the corn while it is still on the stalk," even if this spending is beyond their means.

"Many people think that you cannot delink the consumer concept of 'eating the corn while it is still on the stalk' and this financial crisis which has had a deep impact," the commentary said.

"After the U.S. financial storm spread around the world, some Americans are making self-criticisms and reflecting on their spending ideas and behaviour," it said.

The report cited an American it said had been protesting on Wall Street against a U.S. government bail-out plan as praising Chinese people for knowing how to live within their means.

"Most Chinese people know how to have a good life and are used to making their money go further," it paraphrased the person as saying.

The piece also quoted an ethnically Chinese currency trader on Wall Street as saying China should learn the lessons of this crisis.

"Chinese people should see from the U.S. financial crisis where the value lies in traditional spending concepts, or preparing for a rainy day," it paraphrased the trader as saying.

"Only if people have a constant sense of crisis can they discover potential risks in time and overcome them," the commentary added.