Goldman Sachs is urging investors to take a bet on China’s $30bn pet market and the prospect that the country’s city-dwelling youth will opt for well-fed cats and dogs over a new baby boom.

The US investment bank has laid out its case for the Chinese pet care market in a 104-page report that forecasts a stellar 19 per cent compound annual growth in pet food spending between now and 2030 as, among other factors, the diet of China’s 92m cats and 92m dogs shifts from leftovers to packaged pet food.

Critically, the report predicts a transformation of China’s pet market over the coming decade as the industry expands to meet the demands of fast-growing single and elderly populations. Both of these demographic groups, said Goldman, have a high correlation with higher per-pet spending than elsewhere in the world.