Academic/Science bars are trending in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, offering a mix of intellectual talks and social relaxation in a laid-back, tipsy atmosphere.

The Australian wine industry is an exemplar of how to build awareness and preference for your products in China, becoming the top-selling wine by volume and highest average price by 2019. But the game has changed since the tariffs were introduced

China's wine industry and its drinkers has changed dramatically since 2020, with brands needing to stay abreast of trends to continue to be relevant

It's a lot cheaper to retain a customer than acquire a new one, so the old adage says. Many marketers in China don't seem to have got that memo, with marketing plans based around increasingly expensive livestreams and KOLs for sales, with limited initiatives to retain those customers once they've transacted.We track many loyalty initiatives at China Skinny, but one of the most exciting we've seen lately is from Chinese EV brand, Nio. Car sales have been one of the brightest categories in China's retail sphere, last month growing 17% year-on-year. As we noted in July, Beijing has been strategic in putting its weight behind car sales - it takes a lot of packaged goods or shoe sales to match that of a single car in making retail sales look rosy.

Andy Lau is one of Greater China's most celebrated and distinguished actors, singer-songwriters and film producers. The 60-year old Hong Konger has acted in more than 160 films, while maintaining a successful singing career. Hundreds of awards have borne his name - more than any other male Cantopop star.

Health has long been one of the most important trends in China. Horrific smog in 2013 drove China-based researchers to conclude that Beijing's pollution made the city almost "uninhabitable for human beings." The soupy air was an unmistakable reminder of the importance of staying healthy. This, coupled with numerous food scandals, more sedentary lifestyles and the lasting Chinese tradition of being proactive about health, brought health further to the fore. That year, health was the number one concern for wealthy Chinese, mirroring findings across many consumer groups in China.

Beijing's Common Prosperity is impacting the ways brands market in China

The drivers behind China's rising second-hand market provide some important trends which brands selling in China should take note of

Besides Covid, the three terms that cemented themselves in the Chinese vernacular last year were PPE (个人防护), lockdowns (隔离) and livestreaming (直播). Over this time, there have been few articles talking about marketing in China that didn’t praise the wonders of livestreaming. The buzz around livestreaming has been infectious for both consumers and brands, with 30,000 new Taobao Live accounts opened by merchants in February 2020 alone.

2003 was the year that China surpassed the EU for greenhouse emissions. By 2019, emissions from China were more than four times that of the EU’s 27 member states combined, and over 30% more per capita. In 2019 China accounted for 27% of global emissions, exceeding the entire emissions from the Developed World for the first time.

Skinny readers who’ve been with us for a while may remember when we hypothesised how retailers would be able to tap into China’s facial recognition with consumer scenarios in 2019 and beyond. The anticipated opportunities were the result of China’s leadership in facial recognition tech, coupled with its liberal policies and consumer attitudes towards the privacy. While cities such as San Francisco and Portland have banned the use of facial recognition, the technology has flourished in China with numerous marketing applications. Unfortunately many have been unscrupulous.

It’s been three weeks since Singles’ Day smashed records with sales topping $116 billion just from Alibaba and JD. At China Skinny, we’ve been busy analysing the results and trends – many of which apply to year-round marketing strategies to reach and connect with Chinese consumers.

Few exporters have had as much to celebrate as Australia’s collective wine exporters. In 2014, Australian wine sold to China was just 40% of the value of French wine. In the space of five years, Australian wine exports have flown past the French to become the top selling wine in the world’s largest red wine market. For every dollar that Chinese drop on imported wine, they spend 35 cents on Australian wine versus 29 cents on French wine. Australian wine also commands the highest price per bottle among the top-10 wine exporters to China.

China is notorious for its festivals, which are increasingly morphing into “themed shopping occasions.” When it comes to love, there are six official days on the calendar which fit the mould of the Western Valentine’s Day. Qixi, or the ‘Double Seven Festival’, on August 25 this year, is thought to be the most romantic and authentically Chinese. It celebrates a 2,000 year old love story with its roots in Chinese mythology; a mortal man, a goddess, forbidden love, talking oxen, astrological obstacles and bridges made up of magpies – all your ingredients for a powerful tale of romance.

It wasn’t long after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, when Chairman Mao started encouraging the population to procreate to create a strong China through “manpower”. Although there was no official policy supporting the fertility drive, government propaganda condemned contraceptives and even banned the import of some. Soon enough, woman were having average of six children each and China’s population had doubled.

In the midst of the biggest economic crisis that the world has faced since the Great Depression, Chinese consumers have again demonstrated how much they love to spend when there is a deal to be had. During the 18-days of the 618 shopping festival, consumers spent over a trillion RMB in gross merchandise value (GMV) across China’s ecommerce platforms. JD clocked 34% growth on last year’s event at ¥269.2 billion ($38 billion). Alibaba – who didn’t publish their sales in 2019 – had nothing to hide this year with a healthy ¥698.2 billion ($98.7 billion) – two and a half times what they shifted in the 11 days of their Singles’ Day record last November.

Back in 2017, China's ¥30 billion ($4.3 billion) premium coffee scene was unique among major categories in China. Whereas most categories were fragmented with dozens of domestic and foreign brands vying for a share of wallets, one company accounted for 80% premium coffee sales. That company was Starbucks.

Happy Year of the Rat, although it hasn't started off too cheerful in China. This year's Lunar NY holiday won't be remembered for the usual festivities of red envelopes, feasts, fireworks and badgering sons and daughters for not bringing home a potential spouse.