Author Archive
The Past, Present & Future of Consumerism in China - Interview with Karl Gerth (Part I & II)
In order to understand the future trajectory of China’s domestic consumer market, it’s important to gain an understanding of the historical context of consumerism in China. Karl Gerth is a professor at the University of Oxford who teaches modern Chinese history with an emphasis on consumer culture. He brings a truly unique perspective combining both [...]
Interviewed By British Chamber of Commerce on Luxury Consumerism in China
The British Chamber of Commerce recently interviewed me on the topic of luxury consumerism in China for the Spring-Summer issue of their business publication, the ChamberEye. I follow an interview on China’s middle class consumers with Tom Doctoroff, CEO of JWT Greater China and author of Billions.
I have included selected responses below, but the [...]
The Relative Youth of China’s Wealthy
I came across this chart in The Wall Street Journal last week. It summarizes the results of HSBC’s “Affluent Asia Tracker.” According to the survey, the average age of the wealthiest 10% of investors in mainland China is 36, compared to an average age of 48 in Hong Kong.
This statistic reminded me of what McKinsey’s [...]
Domestic Innovation to Meet the Needs of China’s Rural Consumers
Is China capable of producing global brands? Will Chinese companies ever be able to foster domestic innovation without technology transfer from western MNCs? These two questions are at the forefront of mainstream analysis on China’s next stage of economic development. Both the Economist and Washington Post recently published detailed articles addressing these issues, and I [...]
Connecting Chinese Businesses with Global Consumers | Interview with Alan Tien, GM of PayPal China
China’s e-commerce market represents a $38.5 billion dollar opportunity. In particular, the B2C market is experiencing tremendous growth. Online shops that may have began as a single person operation on Taobao.com, are incorporating into formal online businesses – while at the same time traditional businesses in China are stepping into the e-commerce arena as well.
In [...]
What are China’s consumers eating? Yum! Brands - One Company, Three Pillars of Success (Part II)
This is the second article in a series of posts on Yum! Brands’ success in China. For part one please click on “What are China’s consumers eating? Yum! Brands - One Company, Three Pillars of Success (Part I).”
Pillar III: East Dawning & Little Sheep Hot Pot - Trusted Local Chinese Dining
In 2005 [...]
What are China’s consumers eating? Yum! Brands - One Company, Three Pillars of Success (Part I)
Creating a company is hard, but creating a market is harder. The China Observer recently looked at how companies such as Proctor & Gamble and Campbell’s Soup were doing just that in China. KFC, now part of Yum! Brands, had to do the same thing in China, creating a market for Western fast food that [...]
Tom Doctoroff & China’s New Middle Class
I spent this past weekend writing an in-depth post about Yum! Brands influence and operating model in China. I was just about to publish it, when I came across this fantastic interview from Tom Doctoroff. The interview originally appeared in the Chamber Eye, the magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, and was [...]
What are China’s luxury consumers buying? (Updated)
China’s consumer confidence has reached record levels this past quarter. According to a joint study conducted by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Nielsen, China’s consumer confidence in Q1 2010 has reached levels not seen since 2007 . I am often skeptical of the figures reported by NBS, however this does fit with the [...]
Which Chinese cities spend the most online? Here are the top 10
Alibaba Group’s Taobao.com just released a report outlining the varying levels of e-commerce spend in China’s cities. I translated one of the graphs into English above, but for my Chinese reading audience, you can find the full version here.
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