Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

China

China vs. Romania Cost of Living Summary

China is 20.6% cheaper than Romania overall.

Restaurants: pay 61.2% less in China
Transportation: pay 25.5% less in China
Housing: pay 24.1% less in China
Childcare: pay 65.9% more in China
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.7% less in China
Clothing: pay 10.8% less in China

Expenses including restaurants, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, and groceries are lower in China.

Planning a move to China? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

China vs. Romania Cost Breakdown

If you lived in China instead of Romania, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 61.2% less for restaurants

	Romania	China
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.82 RON46.78	$3.02 CN¥20.18	-69.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.22 RON34.39	$5.16 CN¥34.53	-28.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.87 RON8.93	$0.51 CN¥3.39	-72.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 RON7.49	$0.29 CN¥1.97	-81.2%
Average			-61.2%

Romania vs. China - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay about the same for groceries

	Romania	China
Bread 1 loaf	$1.10 RON5.23	$1.66 CN¥11.09	+51.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 RON17.92	$6.71 CN¥44.89	+78.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.36 RON25.55	$6.65 CN¥44.54	+24.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.91 RON13.87	$1.57 CN¥10.48	-46.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.69 RON12.82	$1.52 CN¥10.14	-43.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.51 RON2.43	$0.83 CN¥5.55	+62.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 RON3.20	$0.59 CN¥3.92	-12.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 RON3.10	$0.67 CN¥4.46	+2.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 RON4.22	$0.58 CN¥3.90	-34.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 RON1.68	$0.33 CN¥2.19	-7.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.71	$0.40 CN¥2.67	+11.0%

Romania vs. China - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.5% less for transportation

	Romania	China
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.55 RON31.21	$4.77 CN¥31.93	-27.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.38 RON111.41	$20.77 CN¥139.03	-11.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,083.66 RON129K	$18,838.53 CN¥126K	-30.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.64 RON31.66	$4.24 CN¥28.40	-36.1%
Average			-25.5%

Romania vs. China - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.1% less for housing

	Romania	China
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.56 RON40.80	$11.27 CN¥75.44	+31.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$371.73 RON1,771.66	$336.09 CN¥2,249.38	-9.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$281.26 RON1,340.48	$212.64 CN¥1,423.15	-24.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$107.14 RON510.63	$42.92 CN¥287.23	-59.9%
Average			-24.1%

Romania vs. China - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 65.9% more for childcare

	Romania	China
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$482.75 RON2,300.77	$500.54 CN¥3,349.94	+3.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,125.14 RON33,958.42	$18,908.16 CN¥127K	+165.4%
Average			+65.9%

Romania vs. China - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Romania	China
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 RON10.39	$1.12 CN¥7.52	-48.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.45 RON11.66	$2.84 CN¥19.01	+16.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.71 RON27.24	$3.71 CN¥24.80	-35.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.73 RON184.56	$41.75 CN¥279.45	+7.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.13 RON34.00	$6.28 CN¥42.01	-12.0%
Average			-14.7%

Romania vs. China - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.8% less for clothing

	Romania	China
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.00 RON295.50	$46.40 CN¥310.51	-25.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.53 RON169.34	$33.97 CN¥227.36	-4.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.18 RON367.84	$73.79 CN¥493.86	-4.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$85.19 RON405.99	$78.93 CN¥528.25	-7.3%
Average			-10.8%

Romania vs. China - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Romania vs. China

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in China?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Make 38.5% less money in China

Size Comparison · See true size

Romania is about 40 times smaller than China.

Moving from Romania to China · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Bucharest vs Beijing

More cost comparisons

Romania vs.

United States

Romania vs.

Bulgaria

Romania vs.

Italy

Romania vs.

Germany

Romania vs.

Spain

Romania vs.

United Kingdom

Romania vs.

Hungary

Romania vs.

France

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Bucharest vs. Beijing

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Romania

Add prices for China

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about China or Romania. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.