'Purrfect economy' sees roaring expansion as young people spend

Love of cats spawns multibillion dollar business in a stunning range of products and services

The world's most populous country is in love with cats. China's 59 million feline pets have spawned a "cat economy", a key sector of the overall pet industry that was worth 134 billion yuan ($20.5 billion) last year, up from 100 billion yuan in 2016 and just 2 billion yuan in 2005.

The figure is expected to balloon to 188.5 billion yuan by 2020 with an annual growth of 30 percent, according to a report from Dog Network, China's online pet services provider.