Market Information

China’s economic growth for the first quarter will be 10.4 percent to 10.5 percent, a group of 14 research institutions jointly predicted over the weekend. They also predict that the consumer price index will be between 6.8 percent and 7.1 percent.

Source: Growth forecast

via Shanghai Daily: Business by on 2/26/08

Macau saw its value of retail sales in 2007 grow 33 percent compared with 2006, according to official statistics released on Wednesday. With notable increases in the sales of watches, clocks and jewelry (up 54 percent), adults’ clothing (up 39 percent), goods in department stores (up 30 percent), and motor vehicles (up 30 percent), the total value of retail sales for the whole year of 2007 reached 14.2 billion patacas (US$1.8 billion), said the Statistics and Census Service of the Special Administrative Region.

Source: Macau boom

via Shanghai Daily: Business by on 2/22/08

China is an increasingly important player in the world economy. However, nearly 40 percent of executives in Asia say their companies do no business in China today, according to a McKinsey survey, and a third say that even if the country’s growth rate fell to zero their company’s revenue would not be affected.

Executives also see significant threats to China’s continued growth; these include a shortage of talent and weak enforcement of commercial laws and regulations. But many respondents say that the country can address its challenges sufficiently.¹

Assessing and addressing the threats

When respondents are asked to consider how quickly China should respond to the threats to its continued growth, more than 80 percent say China must address those threats within five years. The majority (60 percent) say China is likely to be able to do so, although only 12 percent see it as “very likely” (Exhibit 5). Respondents in China are the least likely to be optimistic; less than half say the country is very or somewhat likely to be able to address the problems sufficiently. Executives whose companies are currently generating revenue in China but whose offices are located elsewhere are somewhat more optimistic: 69 percent see it as very or somewhat likely that China will sufficiently address the threats it faces.

Notes

¹ The McKinsey Quarterly conducted the online survey in January 2007 and received 253 responses from C-level executives in Asia.

Source: Doing business in China: A McKinsey Survey of executives in Asia

Chinese factories feeling the pressures of rising energy costs and raw material costs may soon be relaying that increase to American consumers. After years of dominating the production scene for inexpensive goods, Chinese suppliers are now raising prices amidst a weakening dollar and new regulatory policies, further threatening inflation.

Source: Rising Costs in China to Fuel US Inflation

via Biz China Update - News, Reports on 2/13/08

International Business Convention (IBC) China Market Focus: Outdo Your Rivals: Branding & Competing in the China Market (24/01/2008)

View webcast

 China’s Hot New Markets

Quote from Barry Friedman: “I have been speaking to a lot of companies around the country and letting them know where the markets of the future are going to be in China

They are going to what are known as emerging urban centers, also known as secondary cities. It is hard to call these “secondary cities” because they have eight to ten million people in them. These cities outside the major centers and are located away from the coast in the interior, very large urban cities that are now having the buying power and industrial development that we have seen throughout the other parts of the country, this is where Americans should be looking at and if they want to be in business with China in five years this is where they should be looking.”

 See the video here source www.export.gov

New Zealanders rank products imported from China below other imports but have noticed that Chinese imports are fast improving, according to a Massey University consumer survey.

Marketing researchers in the University’s College of Business surveyed Aucklanders on their attitudes towards imports from Australia, China, German, Japan and the United States. Japanese goods got the top rating for product performance.

The research team, led by senior marketing lecturer Dr Gurvinder Shergill (pictured), set out to investigate consumer attitudes towards products and marketing practices of different countries in order to shed more light on how consumers perceive imported products – depending on their country of origin. The study found the three common factors on which consumers evaluate imported products were quality, design and whether they were improving.

Dr Shergill says there has been little research on New Zealanders’ attitudes to imported products. The researchers also wanted to compare the attitudes of consumers towards the way products from the five countries were marketed.

Source: Massey news - Press releases Chinese imports rank low but consumer perceptions improving

SHANGHAI pledged to increase gross domestic product to more than two trillion yuan (US$276.3 billion) in the next five years, the city mayor said today. Per capita GDP is expected to surpass 100,000 yuan by 2012, Mayor Han Zheng said at the annual plenary meeting of the Shanghai People’s Congress this morning. The service industry, which will be the heart of the city’s economy by then, is expected to account for more than 80 percent of GDP in urban areas, Han said. The added value of the service industry aims to exceed 1.1 trillion yuan by 2012, Han said. The city will also continue providing financial support for innovation and scientific research to boost economic development, Han added. Research expenditures will increase to three percent of the city’s total GDP, Han said.

Source: City’s GDP to surpass 2 trillion yuan in 5 years

via Shanghai Daily: Metro by Lydia Chen on 1/24/08

THE Silk Street Market in Beijing, which has long offered copies of international designer and branded goods, has unveiled its own brand - with a warning that anyone who tries to copy it will be held liable. The first items to bear the Silkstreet name, include ties, shirts and scarves, as well as household items such as tablecloths. They are marked “quality guaranteed” with a label that tells buyers that “the goods are certified by the Silk Street Market. If any quality problems are found, the market will bear the responsibility of compensation.” Wang Zili, general manager of the market, told the Beijing Evening News: “Silkstreet products are sold exclusively in the market. Anyone using the brand outside will be held liable.” Nearly 100 stalls connected with 39 market shops will be entitled to sell the goods initially. T-shirts, jeans, knitted goods, jewelry, luggage and other items will be added to the product line, Wang said. Those now authorized to sell Silkstreet products had to have a good business record, said Wang, with “no record of selling fake or shoddy products within six months and no [customer] complaints.” Most of the Silkstreet items come from the factories of famous Chinese manufacturers. For instance, shirts come from the century-old silk company Ruifuxiang, according to the newspaper. The Silk Street (Xiushui) market in eastern Beijing’s Chaoyang District has long been popular with overseas tourists, who have been flocking there to buy counterfeit luxury clothes and accessories since 1985.

Source: Hands off our brand, says silk market

via Shanghai Daily: National by on 1/25/08

Big news for all NZ exporters.

Formal talks for a free trade deal between New Zealand and China have been completed and all the contentious issues resolved, New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff said Monday.“I believe that we will become the first developed country in the world to sign a free trade agreement with China, which within 20 years could well be the world’s largest economic power,” Goff told Radio New Zealand.

There was still a lot of work to be done to finalise the drafting of the 1,000-page trade agreement, he said.

The New Zealand government has previously said it hopes to complete the deal by April.

Fifteen rounds of talks have been held between the two countries on the trade deal, with the last being held in December.

Prime Minister Helen Clark previously identified New Zealand’s dairy exports as a sticking point in the talks.

Trade between the two countries is worth about NZ$6.2 billion (US$4.7 billion) annually.

Source: New Zealand says FTA talks with China completed
Posted: 21 January 2008 0832 hrs