China News This Week: Wednesday 27 July 2022
Sport
Postponed Asian Games 2022 scheduled for September- October 2023: Hangzhou will “stage a spectacular sporting and cultural gala with Chinese Grandeur, Zhejiang Style and Hangzhou Flavour.”
Amid COVID Shutdowns, Chinese Women Flock to Surfskating: Surfskating, a novice-friendly version of skateboarding that uses a more flexible front-end wheel assembly, known as a truck, to enable deeply carved turns akin to surfing. Surfskating also got a boost from the buzz over snow sports from 2022 Winter Olympics, as they allow snowboard-style turns without the need for snow or even a slope. Xiaohongshu (RED) searches for “land surfboard,” rose by 50 times in June from a year earlier. JD.com reported 80% growth in surfskateboard sales. At one of “Burning Ice” skateboard shop’s five Beijing branches, revenues were up around 300% this year, with women accounting for approximately 70% of the stores sales.
Chinese Consumers
Rich Chinese Worth $48 Billion Want to Leave: Investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners estimates a cohort of 10,000 high-net-worth residents is seeking to pull $48 billion from China this year.
China Kicks Off First Major Consumer Product Expo Since Lockdowns: The 2022 China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou saw more than 2,800 brands from 60 countries show off their wares – more than double the number at last year’s debut. Dolce & Gabbana was among the brands exhibiting, putting the troubles of the past behind them.
Bridesmaids Go Professional: 22-year old Xie Yuke has flown more than 140,000 kilometres to attend over 40 weddings in the past two years and is now making a living from it. If you’re single, shorter than the typical bride, and enjoy frequent travel, there’s a growth industry looking to hire. Covid travel restrictions have made it hard to find friends able to travel to weddings, while some couples complain they can’t find friends that are up to the standard.
Digital China
Didi Fined $1.2 Billion for National Security and Data Violations: China’s Uber, Didi, was fined for security and data violation offences including illegal collection of 12 million screenshots from users’ photo albums, excessive collection of facial recognition data, age and occupation information, family relationship data, home and work locations, education and personal identity information. They were also found guilty of unnecessarily requesting access to users’ phone books, analysing passengers’ travel intentions without consent, failure to inform users about the use of their personal information and data processing activities that posed ‘severe national security risks.’
How is TikTok Different in China Versus America?: A very Fox-News-esque report with selective content selection, but still an interesting comparison between Douyin content in China versus Tik Tok content in the US.
Food & Beverage
Chinese District Regulator Inspects Pizza Hut Stores Over Food Safety Issues: The market regulator of Beijing’s Haidian district is carrying out inspections of 45 Pizza Hut stores after an undercover investigation from the Beijing News reported two of its stores in Beijing allegedly had fake expiration dates on products and had reused cooking oil over 10 days.
China’s Market Regulators Take Aim at ‘Ice Cream Assassins’: Local regulators across China have been cracking down on stores hiding ice cream prices amid an uproar over rising costs for the humble summer treat. Brick-and-mortar shops have been fined up to ¥200 ($15) for hiding prices. While the crackdown aims to protect consumer rights, it is unlikely to result in an emergence of lots of low-priced ice creams. In related news, China’s General Administration of Customs has announced that some Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream contains the carcinogen ethylene oxide.
Beauty
Post-Pandemic Brand Strategy: Simplification and Sophistication: Simplification and sophistication are key strategies to drive cosmetics sales in the post-pandemic era, with consumers willing to spend more on natural, sustainable care and tech beauty. Consumers want makeup that lasts, but is quick and convenient to apply to achieve a natural look.
Chinese Tourists
Pandemic-Hit Tourism Industry Come Up With Innovative Strategies to Revive It: Hotels are organising nature tours as the pandemic has forced Chinese tourists to pay more attention to sustainability and make more environmentally friendly choices. People are pursuing immersive tourism and cultural experiences blending the virtual and the real.
Fashion
Alibaba Algorithm Will Have Chinese Shoppers Looking Their Best This Fall: Hibiscus orange stands for the power of the newborn, cyan blue symbolizes serendipity and harmony — qualities high in demand with the protracted pandemic crisis. An increasing number of sportswear and loungewear clothing brands have adopted hibiscus orange for their new fall launches, and cyan blue is featured in some of the latest smart home gadget launches.
Luxury
$3,800 Dior Skirt Accused of Appropriating Chinese Culture: Chinese social media users fumed over the similarity of the skirt’s pattern and folds to the Chinese horse-face pleated skirt, or mamianqun—a type of Hanfu typically worn by women in the Ming Dynasty. Commentators expected this to “blow over in a couple of days.” Dior stirred up controversy last year after one of its photos of a model with freckles and a Dior bag was accused of uglifying Chinese women and distorting Chinese culture.
Manolo Blahnik Wins Decades-Long Trademark Battle in China: Manolo Blahnik, the British shoe brand made famous by its celebrity fans and regular appearances in TV drama Sex and the City, has won a 22-year-long legal battle in China to use its own name, paving the way for the brand’s expansion across the country. The ruling was the result of 2019 amendments to China’s IP laws taking aim at so-called “bad faith” filings.
Cars
Camping Craze Spreads to Latest EVs: “Chinese car owners have added outdoors settings into their routine scenarios, apart from home and work,” said Radar CEO, who has just launched an electric pickup. Li Auto has optional camper-friendly add-ons such as a fridge. Nio introduced an optional electric tow bar for the just-launched ES7, billing it as one of the first certified passenger vehicles in China able to tow a caravan or trailer. Chinese manufacturers are already starting to sell branded camping merchandise like folding chairs and tents. China’s NEV market is expected to top 5.22 million units this year, up 47.2% from last year. Car sales overall were up 23% in June from a year earlier.
