China News This Week: Wednesday 24 August 2022
This week's news and trends in China:
Chinese Consumers
A High-Profile Meeting in China May Have Tipped Off Which Provinces Will Have Highest Growth: Premier Li Keqiang has called on six "economically strong provinces" to drive growth in China. They are Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan and Sichuan which collectively account for 45% of the national GDP. Shanghai and Beijing weren't mentioned. The six provinces that were highlighted during last week's meeting had set GDP targets ranging from 5.5% to 6.5%.
Three FMCGs Shaking Up Traditional Product Development: Nestlé China launched a fruit-flavoured coffee for consumers who typically dislike coffee due to its bitter taste. Phillips launched a Gen-Z youth shaver, as well as a portable water flosser launched for Chinese white-collar urbanites. Nivea launched a tiger-grass-enriched male skincare product for those staying up late at night and a female cleanser for sensitive skin.
China Mulls Regulating Sprawling Mystery-Box Sales Practices: Mystery boxes (or blind boxes) have become a popular business model followed by toymakers, retailers, and souvenir designers. New rules aim to make drugs, medical devices, some cosmetics and live animals banned from using the sales method, among other rules. More than 60% of toys and collectibles bought during the 618 shopping festival were blind boxes.
Chinese Retailer Miniso is No Longer Calling Itself a "Japanese-Designed" Brand: The Guangzhou-based discount retail chain issued an apology for marketing itself as a Japanese brand and has engaged itself in an official policy and process of "de-Japanizing" itself by the end of March 2023 through changes to its store design and marketing materials.
Majority of Chinese Consumers Value Trademark Protection: Survey: 85% of the surveyed consumers said they pay attention to genuine trademarks when purchasing products. 69% agree with the importance of trademark protection, and will act accordingly during their purchases. By July, China had 40.55 million effective registered trademarks, 20.9% more than a year ago.
Sport
Focus on Wellbeing and Rising Spending Power Boost Niche Sports in China: Nearly 50 coastal cities in China have launched sailing clubs. More than 200 universities in China have frisbee societies. The number of notes about surf skating on Xiaohongshu grew 312% over the past three quarters. Imported skateboard categories have grown 100% on Tmall year-on-year. Travel bookings on Alibaba's Feizhu for surfing and diving increased more than 200% last year, hiking and climbing increased 13-fold.
Food & Beverage
Premade Cuisine Seen Expanding by 20%: Prepared meals continue to rise in China. Sales grew to ¥345.9 billion ($51b) last year and are expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 20% to ¥516.5 billion ($76b) in 2023. Freshippo saw sales of frozen semi-cooked foods skyrocket 559% year-on-year in May, likely influenced by the Shanghai lockdowns. Nearly two-thirds of online shoppers in China have bought meal kits.
Coronavirus: Bizarre Clip of Medical Workers Testing Live Seafood Widely Ridiculed for Insane Extent of China’s Dynamic Zero-Covid Rule: The city of Xiamen has ordered PCR tests on live seafood including fish, crabs and shrimp amid fears they are the source of a new Covid outbreak. Similar tests are taking place in Hainan. Chinese health officials have frequently tied imported cases to food and mail, however last month, the State Council said the latest research showed the coronavirus will die on most surfaces within one day and ordered to stop testing imported goods transported at a temperature above 10 degrees Celsius.
Parenting
17 Chinese Govt Departments Issue Guideline to Boost Population Growth Amid Falling Birth Rate: A total of 17 Chinese government departments have jointly released a guideline on support policies in finance, tax, housing, employment, education and other fields to create a fertility-friendly society and encourage families to have more children. China's population is expected to contract before 2025.
How Toddler Tutoring Preys on Anxious Chinese Parents: These worries have grown more acute in recent years, as new parents are bombarded from all sides with articles, videos, and other media preaching the virtues of "scientific parenting." The idea that a children's future is determined in their first three years of life has become an article of faith among contemporary Chinese parents — and early education centres, with their talk of "critical ages" and "cognitive science"— are happy to cater to their worst fears.
Education
ARWU 2022: 8 Mainland Chinese Unis Make Top 100 as US Schools Triumph: Shanghai Jiaotong's Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) listed eight Chinese universities in the top-100, with Tsinghua ranking top at 26. US universities took 15 of the top-20 spots. The UK didn't fare so well this year, with just 10 in the top-100. Asian universities largely edged out other competitors in many engineering and tech-related subjects, while American schools generally fared better in life and medical sciences.
Digital China
Taobao Bans ‘Lie Flat’ Cat Cartoon: A Shanghai cat shelter raised money with slacker-themed T-shirts. China’s biggest e-commerce platform says they threatened "public order and morality."
Travel
China’s Domestic Tourism is on Track to Bounce Back from Pandemic Lows, Says Fitch Ratings: China’s domestic tourism — a key indicator of retail spending — is on track to make a comeback after dipping to an all-time low during the nation’s worst lockdowns, with the increase in holiday bookings indicating that tourism spending would be recovering in the second half of the year. China's tourism sector accounted for around 11% of GDP and 10% of national employment in 2019. Samsonite's CEO is also expecting travel to boom when the border reopens.
Unprecedented Pent-Up Demand Drives Travel Recovery: China's outbound tourism spending is set to recover faster than the number of trips, underlining the transition to value-driven tourism post-pandemic, with strong interest in sustainable travel features among Chinese consumers. Euromonitor's Voice of the Consumer Lifestyles Survey highlights that a higher number of consumers (76%) select sustainable travel features, such as immersion in nature and culture vs 73% for mass-market options in 2022.
