Chinese have spent last year 13 billion US dollar on luxury goods, but only 40 percent in China itself, says Shaun Rein in CNBC. Because of the high tariffs luxury goods, including cars, are 20-30 percent more expensive on the mainland. “They are shooting themselves in the foot.”Read More →
Arthur Kroeber by Fantake via Flickr China’s government is placing its bets on increasing domestic spending by consumers, tells Arther Kroeber in The Guardian. But the inflation seems to be undermining the confidence among those consumers. The 11.7% rise in food costs reflected growing demand, a shrinking pool of youngRead More →
Rupert Hoogewerf The number of Chinese millionaires has increased in one year time by almost 10 percent, to 960,000. The number of super rich, those have over US§15 million in assets, went up 9 percent to 60,000, according to the latest Hurun Report, produced by Rupert Hoogewerf. From eFinancialNews: WhereRead More →
Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr Shaun Rein addresses at CNBC China’s largest nightmare, inflation, as real estate prices and wages go up. But he remains optimistic about the country’s consumers, who keep on buying for the coming six months. Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau.Read More →
Hong Kong: too small via Wikipedia The new-to-built Shanghai Disney park should learn from the mistakes that have been made in the Hong Kong park, says Shaun Rein in Reuters. First, size matters. Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research said the problem with the Hong Kong park isRead More →
Image via Wikipedia What foreign companies, trying to tap into the China market, regularly forget is that there is no need for their services, tells retail analyst Paul French at Marketplace Public Radio. Home Depot is an example. Paul French responds to Raymond Chou, president of Home Depot China: CHOU: The HomeRead More →
Image by Getty Images via @daylife The Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has become a public attraction comparable to Disneyland in the small number of stores they have in China, writes Shaun Rein on the CNBC website. When you are too popular as a foreign brand, it is not only goodRead More →
Arthur Kroeber by Fantake via Flickr For years China has been talking about refocusing its economy on domestic consumption, tells Arthur Kroeber in the New York Times. Now, real change is happening, although we should not expect too much too fast. The New York Times: “For years and years they’veRead More →
Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr Home Depot and BestBuy were just two of the foreign companies in China that failed, while the consumer market is reaching record heights. Shaun Rein explains what they were missing in CNBC. First, they get China’s middle class wrong: For one, Western brands needRead More →
Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr Women have been driving the Chinese consumer market for a long time, but now Chinese men are miving in and focusing more on skin care products and other cosmetics, tells Shaun Rein in this discussion on CNBC. Not only foreign brands like L’Oreal, butRead More →
Image via Wikipedia Depending on how you look at the figures, retail grew up to 20 percent in China, retail analyst Paul French tells Forbes and compares the fate of foreign retailers like Gap force domestic competition from the Trinity Group and China Lilang. Paul French in Forbes: Take aRead More →
Image by Getty Images via @daylife It took them a while, but luxury brands are becoming better in targeting the Chinese consumer, especially the young women, says Shaun Rein in CNN. One of the side effects: more work for Chinese models. “People are savvy now, they dress to impress,” saidRead More →